Chuck vs Family Matters
by lucky47
Summary: The Bartowski charm works its magic on the General after her terminally ill granddaughter stays with Casey while undergoing an experimental treatment at the hospital Ellie works at.
1. Chapter 1

**Chuck vs. Family Matters**

It was another typical day at the Buy More. Major John Casey spent his time restocking shelves with products he really didn't care about, doing a job that he despised. Even before he started working for the government he never had such a boring job as the Buy More. Growing up, he always knew what profession he would do, even if it was pushed onto him. He didn't mind, though, as he knew he was very good at his job. He never realized how much he would enjoy it when his father made him enlist in the Air Force.

He stood up from his crouched position to stretch his legs. He kicked out each leg to get the feeling back into them. Letting out a disdainful grunt, he grabbed the now empty crate to take to the back. The delivery trucks should be coming soon with the new inventory and he always looked forward to the manual labor.

As he made his way up the main aisle of the store, a female voice shouted for his attention behind him. "Uncle Casey!" she said as she launched toward him.

Casey turned just in time to catch the young woman with a genuine smile on his face, probably the first one anyone here has ever seen him give. "Evelyn Jane!" He twirled around in a circle and gently allowed her to get her footing on the ground. Pulling away from their embrace he looked her in the face, "I didn't think you guys would get here until tomorrow."

Another woman approached the pair as she responded, "Well, this one couldn't contain her excitement to come so we thought we'd surprise you."

"Yeah," Evelyn agreed, "Did it work?"

"Yes. I am surprised." Casey walked up to the other woman and gave her a hug, "Trisha. Long time no see. How have you been?"

Trisha returned the hug with a smile as she said, "Oh, you know, as well as can be expected. And you?"

"I've had my ups and downs but overall things are pretty good." Casey indicated the crate in his hands and said, "Let me put this away and I'll talk to Big Mike about getting out of here early. We can go get some dinner."

Trisha said, "Okay but then we have to go get a room-"

"Nonsense," Casey interrupted, "I have room for the both of you for tonight and then you're welcome to stay with me after, Trisha."

"John, that's really sweet but you don't have to go out of your way for us."

"I know, but I want to. Everything has already been arranged for it anyway."

"So the General knows?"

"Yes. You are important to her, you know."

"Alright," Eve said, "Lets stop talking about this. You guys are getting more depressing by the minute. Come on, Mom. Uncle Casey wouldn't have offered if he didn't know it was approved. He's all about regulations and orders. And we didn't come here early so I could watch you guys mope."

Casey smiled at his niece. Even with everything she is going through, she has always remained positive and optimistic. "I'll be right back." He jogged to the back of the store and entered the employee only area, throwing the crate in. On his way back to the front, he stopped by Big Mike's office to tell him he is heading off for the day but Big Mike wasn't there. "Figures," he muttered. Looking around the store, he spotted Morgan talking to Jeff and Lester. He let out a grunt as he walked to the trio. "Morgan!" he bellowed grabbing him by the shoulder, "Come with me."

"Oh, hi there, John. Are you sure it's me you're looking for? I mean Chuck-" Morgan tried to shake John's hold on his shoulder looking desperately back at Jeff and Lester for help.

"No, Morgan. I don't wanna talk to Bartowski. And if you ever tell him about this, I will kill you," he said dragging Morgan down a different aisle. He stopped only once he was out of earshot of everyone and whispered, "I need a favor."

Morgan leaned in carefully to hear, "What's that, big guy?"

Casey grunted and rolled his eyes, "I need to leave. Can you cover for me?"

"Sure thing," Morgan said relieved that it wasn't anything else. He started gesturing wildly between the two of them, "So what is this? Are we- are we bonding now? Am I part of your inner circle?"

Casey grunted and shook his head. "Don't forget to clock me out."

"Okay, have fun, Big Guy," Morgan said watching as he departed.

Jeff and Lester walked over to Morgan and watched as John walked out of the store with the two women. "That is one scary dude," Jeff stated.

*********

Sarah Walker looked up from wiping down the counter at the Orange Orange for what seemed like the millionth time that day. Chuck normally took the time to come over on his lunch break to see how she was doing that day. Even if it was just to keep up appearances, she had come to rely on that. He was never one to let her down but today she was actually quite nervous that he wouldn't show. Last night was another time that she let him down, again. She just wished he could see that it wasn't anything about him that made it so they couldn't be together. If it were a different place or a different time then they may have actually had a shot but she wasn't going to give up the one thing in her whole life that made her who she was. The CIA has become like a surrogate family for her. Granted, the Bartowski's are trying to change that and little by little it seems to be working.

As she gazed out the window, she saw John Casey walking towards his Crown Victoria with two women in tow. He was actually laughing and smiling with the younger one and she could hardly believe her eyes. John never smiled or even laughed for that matter. What was even more bewildering is that he actually held open the front and back passenger doors for them. Who knew chivalry wasn't dead, or that he even had it in him.

"Agent Walker," came Beckman's voice over the register. "Come to Castle immediately. We need to talk."

Sarah was jolted out of her reverie at the commanding voice. "Yes, General Beckman. I'm on my way." Beckman's image shut off the monitor. Sarah walked to the front door of the store to lock it and change the sign from open to closed so no customers would show. Not that there would ever be a problem with that. Hardly anyone ever came into the yogurt shop. She took one last look at the retreating Crown Vic and then made her way to the freezer.

She typed in her password to unlock the heavy door and made her way deeper into Castle. General Beckman's image was already on screen waiting for her as she went down the stairs. "Agent Walker," Beckman began before she ever made it to the ground floor, "I need you to keep a closer eye on the asset for the time being. Major Casey will be detained for an indefinite period of time."

"Is Casey in some sort of trouble, General?"

"Not at all. He will be tending to personal matters. Team Bartowski isn't going to be going on missions until he returns. We will need the asset for remote surveillance on missions for other teams to see if he flashes on anything though no one will be made aware of his identity. Perhaps now would be a good time for you and Bartowski to move in together."

Sarah took in a deep breath as she replied, "General, is there something going on that I should know about? It seems rather unusual to go to such lengths-"

"Agent Walker, if myself or Major Casey wanted you to know what was going on, we would tell you. All you need to know is that he will be unavailable for the majority of time starting now and the asset needs to be kept safe which will fall directly on your shoulders for now. Is that understood?"

"Yes, Ma'am," Sarah said with a curt nod.

"Good. Enjoy the down time." And with that, Beckman's image was gone. Sarah was a bit perturbed with the new development. She and Chuck were pretty much on the rocks and now they would have to move in together. As it was her feelings towards Chuck were already progressing to dangerous proportions and to have to be around him twenty-four seven was going to make them even more impossible to ignore. She just hoped this wouldn't end up getting her reassigned. As much as she wanted to deny it, Chuck is a big part of her happiness these days and to go from seeing him everyday to not seeing him at all would be difficult to say the least.

With heavy feet, Sarah walked upstairs to get back to her more than boring day job. She went to the front door and flipped over the sign once again and unlocked the door just in time as Chuck was walking through the parking lot towards the store. She gave him a brief smile through the window, glad that he was still keeping up with tradition. She opened the door and waited for him to come in. "Hi, Chuck."

He smiled back but not as bright as normal and replied, "Hey, Sarah. So anything new on the espionage front?" Chuck was well aware that if she was unlocking the door, she just had a meeting with the General. Maybe there would be a mission tonight. Just what he needs, another reason to lie to Ellie to get out of dinner. Ever since this damn intersect came into his life, all he has done is lie. Lie to Ellie, lie to Morgan, even lie to himself, which was almost the worst thing. He really missed being able to spend time with his sister.

Sarah allowed the door to close and walked behind the counter. With her back turned to him, she grabbed two cups and filled them with yogurt to distract herself as she responded, "Actually, General Beckman ordered us to move in together." Sarah turned around and handed him a cup of his favorite flavor. "I guess Casey has something going on that will make him unavailable and it will be up to me to keep you safe."

Chuck took the offered yogurt. "Really?" he said with a less than enthusiastic expression. "What is the G-man going to be up to?"

Sarah hopped up on the counter and dug into her yogurt. "I really don't know. She just said it was personal and that we also won't be going on missions until he is done. You might have to help with surveillance and stuff for other missions but nothing too harsh. I guess you can sort of look at this like a vacation."

Chuck leaned against the counter looking into his frozen desert. "Well, I guess there are worse ways to end up with a vacation. So when is this moving thing supposed to happen?"

"As soon as the CIA finds a place, I assume. She didn't give me much details."

"Okay. So are we telling people or should we wait? What do you want to do?"

Sarah stirred her yogurt before spooning some into her mouth. "Well, I think it will happen pretty soon. It sounds like Casey's thing has already started. Maybe we could tell Ellie at dinner tonight? Give you some time to pack?"

Chuck nods. "Great. They like to do everything on short notice."

Sarah smiled at his annoyance. "You get used to it."

"Yeah, well, it's not something I ever thought I would have to get used to." He threw the empty yogurt cup into the trash bin. "I guess its back to the Buy More for me. Meet you here after my shift?"

"Okay. I can give you a ride home. I saw Casey leave earlier. I just have to stop at the hotel and grab an overnight bag on our way."

"Awesome. Bye, Sarah." Chuck exited the store before she replied and walked to the Buy More. This wasn't good. He just laid everything out on the line and she denied him, again, and now he was going to have to live with her. Damn Bryce Larkin and his stupid meddling. Sometimes he wishes he never went to Stanford. His life would be so different if he had just gone to UCLA like Ellie wanted him to or even Juilliard like he really wanted. And now, not only that, he gets time off which means that he and Sarah will actually have to spend time together without missions and they get to be normal . . . which might not be so bad. He can show her that normal isn't always a horrible thing. That brought a big smile to his face. Things could work out in his favor after all.

"Hey, Chuck, what's that smile all about, buddy?" Morgan asked and Chuck walked in.

"You know, little buddy, I just had the best visit with Sarah today."

"Dude, that is so awesome that you guys worked things out. You did work things out right? You didn't break up with her again?"

"No, no. Nothing like that. We decided to move in together."

"What? That's a horrible idea!" Morgan says.

Chuck's face became crestfallen. "What is wrong with that idea, Morgan? Aren't you the one who is moving in with Anna? It was actually you guys that inspired us. Once you decided to move in with Anna over me, I still felt it was time for me to move on from Ellie's and get my own place. What better way to do that than with your girlfriend?"

"But, Chuck, I know Sarah is hot and everything but you guys like to take everything slow. Like so slow a tortoise moves more quickly. In your world, that is way too fast for you guys."

Chuck laughed. If only Morgan knew how fast things really went in his world. "There is a time to finally hit the accelerator, buddy, otherwise you just fade into being friends and I don't want that to happen. It's time. We can make this work. I actually feel really, really good about this choice. Just be happy for me please?"

"Okay, fine. But if it doesn't work out I get to say I told you so."

"Deal."


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Hey guys! Thanks for all your kind words. I appreciate them. =) If you can't tell I'm new to the whole fanfiction scene- actually writing in general- so any critique's or criticism is much needed, I'm sure. Just so you know, I'll be getting into the details of Eve's condition later on. Right now it's just something noticeable to people but they don't talk much about it.

In light of the season finale (hopefully not series =( cuz I'd be sad) here is an update.

Oh, and I guess I forgot the disclaimer last time . . . Yeah, I don't own Chuck but wouldn't that be awesome?!

Chapter 2

Casey sat across from Trisha and Eve at a diner not too far from his apartment. It was a small establishment that has a very homey feel to it. One of those places that you had to know about in order to go there, basically it was a hole in the wall. He's come so often, practically everyone knows him. He is the grumpy patron but always tips well so they chose to be overly nice to him, which makes him even grumpier. The only waitress that doesn't do that is Grace. She is the only one who he actually likes. Luckily, she was the one working there tonight. She had been out of town the past couple weeks and he was starting to wonder if she was ever coming back.

"Well, well. If it isn't my favorite customer, Major Casey," she said smiling. Her green eyes twinkled in the light as she looked at the group. "Haven't seen you around in a while, buddy. Whatcha been up to?"

"Pretty much the same since last time. How was your trip? Is your grandma feeling better?" Casey asked with genuine interest. He stayed late here one night after a particularly rough mission when she got the call about her grandma. They ended up talking until ungodly hours of the morning. Well, Grace talked, Casey listened. It seemed like she didn't have anyone to vent to in her life. She told him her grandma was suffering from stage four Alzheimer's Disease and it sounded like it was coming to the end soon. The only thing Casey had mentioned was a past within the military.

Grace's expression fell slightly, "I guess that's one way of saying it. She passed actually." Her eyes tear but she didn't let any fall.

Casey wore a grim frown, "I'm sorry. I didn't know."

She waved off his apology, "Don't worry about it, John. It's for the best. She was suffering for a long time. It's better this way." She took a deep breath and changed the subject, looking to the women that came in with Casey tonight. He's never brought a guest in with him so they immediately piqued her interest. "So, who are these lovely ladies?"

"This is Trisha and her daughter Eve."

Grace extended a hand out to shake for the two women, "Pleasure to meet you." Grace noticed Eve looks quite worse for wear. She is much thinner than she ought to be and has dark circles around her eyes. Her skin is pale, almost translucent, and her clothes look like they had fit at one point in time but now hang loosely around her body. But her eyes sparkle with life and her smile is one of optimism. "So how do you all know each other?"

Trisha chose to respond to her inquiry, "John and my husband were in the same unit in the Air Force. They were like brothers. We've been friends for years and this one," she indicated Eve, "has been like a monkey on his back. As a matter of fact, I think Eve is the only person who has never found you the least bit intimidating."

Casey grunted, "I think I've lost my touch because Gracie never found me intimidating."

Grace smiled and let out a puff of air, "Pft, that's just because you've never turned your wrath on me. You don't like to talk so there isn't much to be afraid of as long as I did my job right. Get your order right, no harm no foul. No reason to be rude. You're not one to be unnecessarily rude if it isn't warranted."

Eve liked this Grace person. She has a very light air about her, like she doesn't let much get her down and she is really friendly. "I was only eight when I met him and my dad explained all about him before I actually saw him and the things that Dad told me would make anyone think you are just a big teddy bear." Eve decided to tease Casey a bit as she continued, "Or was it sugar bear? I can't quite remember . . ."

"Eve," Casey warned as he threw his napkin at her in a less than menacing fashion. Eve laughed as she easily blocked the flying paper.

Grace laughed too. It was nice to see Casey lighten up. He always kept to himself so no one was more surprised than she when he asked if everything was okay after she got the call about her grandma. If she were to be frank with herself, his mysterious nature was quite alluring. And then he showed that he could actually care. It was a great mix. He let her babble for hours while she finished her shift. None of her co-workers would come in to relieve her so she had to finish her overnight shift before she could start the long drive to the care facility in San Fransisco where her grandma was. She wasn't even sure if her car would make it there let alone back, it was so old. On top of that, with no customers to serve the time would have droned on with nothing to do but worry which never solved anything. He even surprised her more when her shift ended and she found out that he bought her a plane ticket and a rental car so she could save time getting to her grandma. He even took her to the airport. "Have you decided what you'd like to get?"

Eve looked up at Grace with a questioning glance, "Is there anything really light? Like something that won't make you . . . how do I say this without appearing gross?"

Grace looked at her with a sideways glance, "Like something that won't make you vomit? I hope that isn't presumptuous of me but-"

"No, no," Eve said without the slightest hint of offense, "That is exactly what I was going for."

"I think I can wrangle up something especially for you. Is there anything you are allergic to or that you can't have or don't like?"

"Nope but lately I've been a bit lactose intolerant so if at all possible no milk would be fabulous."

Grace smiled, "I've got just the thing. I'll make it so the cooks don't mess it up and it's not on the menu anyway. And I can make a tea that is really good for nausea if you'd like." At Eve's nod she turned her attention to Trisha, "Great. And what would you like, Trisha?"

Trisha liked this Grace character. She is exactly the type of person she would expect Casey to go for. She seems to be in her early to mid thirties with auburn hair and green eyes. She is quite tall also which is good since Casey is really tall as well. "I think I'll go with the club sandwich and a cola."

"Alrighty," she said jotting down the order, "With everything?"

"Yes, please."

"Great. And Casey I'm thinking you want your usual. Not getting the vibe that you want to go outside the norm today."

"Usual is fine," Casey said handing her the menus he gathered.

"Excellent," she said taking the menus from Casey, "I'll be right back with your drinks."

As soon as Grace was out of earshot Trisha and Eve looked at Casey and said in unison, "Oh my goodness, Casey, she is perfect!"

Casey grunted, "What are you talking about?"

Trisha gave him an odd look, "Are you kidding me? Come on, John. That woman is a godsend. She is perfect for you to woo."

"I'm not gonna 'woo' anyone, Trisha. I'm here for a job as you know. What happens when it's over and I can't say goodbye because my orders are to just leave? That would be rather inconsiderate don't you think?"

Trisha shook her head, "John Casey, we both know that you are able to retire and that you should retire after this assignment is over. You shouldn't wait until then to look for someone. I know you want the American Dream just like everyone else and you deserve it, too."

"Yeah, Uncle Casey."

"It's not going to happen. I do what I do so that all the other suckers in this country can have that dream. I chose to make that sacrifice."

"Just think about it, John. Please?" Trisha pleaded. "I know you are very good at your job and that this country owes you a lot. I just think you should take a step back. You aren't getting any younger. It's like a family is the last thing you have to fulfill in this life."

"Trisha, I am married to my job. It will always be my first priority."

She reached out and laid a hand on top of his resting on the table. "It can share a spot. Look at what David and I had. It wasn't perfect but I wouldn't have traded any of it."

"David was a person who could handle multiple things like that. I like maintaining focus on one thing."

"You are capable, John. You just haven't tried it."

Casey grunted. He had this conversation once every few years with David. Now that he's passed it seems his widow has taken it upon herself to continue trying to persuade him. He never thought of himself as a family man. He tried to but he just couldn't see it. Ilsa was the only person he ever fathomed a family with and look how that turned out.

Eve shook her head, "Oh, you better stop, Mom. I know that grunt. End of discussion grunt, I'd say."

Grace walked up to the table, balancing a tray full of drinks. She could feel the tension at the table but respectfully ignored it, "Here you go. I've brought two of each so you won't have to worry about refills while I'm making Eve's dinner." She placed two waters in front of Casey, two cokes in front of Trisha and the tea in front of Eve. "Why don't you give that tea a try and see if you like it. I can get you something else if you don't. And be honest, you won't hurt my feelings. I know tea can be an acquired taste."

"I'm excited to give this a try," Eve said as she blew over the top of the steaming tea. Bringing the cup close to her lips she took a gradual swallow. She sighed and melted into the booth, "Oh that is so good. Better than anything they've tried at the hospital."

"I'm glad you like it," she said with a smile, "I hope you like your dinner too. I'm not much of a cook but there are certain things I'm pretty good at making."

"If it's half as good as this tea, I'm sure I'll love it." Eve really was enjoying Grace. She was going out of her way to make her feel better and she never looked at her like she was sick. Even though Eve was aware of how painfully obvious it was that she was in fact sick, it was still nice to have a stranger act as though she were just any other normal person. She really would be a good match for Uncle Casey.

"I'll be back soon with your dinner. If you need anything else, just holler. I'm sure I'll hear you from the kitchen." Grace pivoted on her right foot and walked to the kitchen. She was going to try really hard to make this dinner count. Just before she went through the door she heard Eve turn to her mom and say, "Mom, you have got to try this tea. You too, Uncle Casey."

***************

Chuck and Sarah stopped by her hotel room to get an overnight bag and for her to change out of her work uniform. She didn't have to go to the Orange Orange tomorrow and since Chuck also had the day off from the Buy More, Sarah thought it would be good for their cover if she stayed over, especially since they decided to move in together. While they had no plans set in stone for tomorrow, they could either sleep in so Ellie wouldn't drag them into wedding plans at breakfast or they could make an early exit. They were already going to meet her for lunch to discuss some things about the wedding anyway.

Chuck opened the front door and allowed Sarah to precede him into the apartment, always the gentleman even if they were in a weird spot. But his attitude towards her had changed from earlier that day. A vacation is probably just what he needed.

Ellie looked up from setting the table, "Hey you guys." She put down the final glass and walked over to the couple, giving them each a hug after they hung their coats up. "How was your day?"

Chuck looked at Sarah and smiled, "It was good. Really, really good. Actually, we have something we would like to talk to you about." Sarah grabbed Chuck's hand and he briefly looked down at their joined hands before continuing. "Sarah and I have decided-"

Ellie decided to have fun with the couple and interrupted, "To get married?" Their reactions were always fun to see when the subject was broached. Sarah's face showed shock for about a half a second, if that even and Chuck rolled his eyes. She always wondered how Sarah managed to keep a straight face most of the time. The only time you really saw what she was thinking was when she thought she wasn't being watched, but even then it's like she would feel you watching and then immediately put her wall back up. Watching Sarah watch Chuck had become one of Ellie's most favorite things to do.

"What? No," Sarah said looking at Chuck's amused expression, "Not quite ready for that yet. We're going to move in together. For real, this time," Sarah finished with a smile. While she was nervous at what the next while holds for them since Casey is occupied- he was always a good buffer and reminder for her to keep her guard up- she would be lying if she said she wasn't looking at least a little bit forward to it. Chuck was good company and everyone needs good company. After mulling it over all afternoon, she figured that this time away could be a good dry run for her in the real world, a way to see if she could do it. Make life work for her outside of spy world.

Realistically a relationship would never work in spy world. Emotions were nothing but trouble there. However in the real world, emotions were the connective tissue that held everything together. They were the equivalent of deception in the spy world. Its weird to think of deception as the connective tissue of spy world since it was a world filled with half truths and full lies, but if you weren't good at it to some degree, you were dead. In some ways, Sarah desperately wanted out but deception was a big part of her

life long before the CIA ever entered into the picture so she wouldn't even know how to begin the exhumation process. Chuck and his merry band of misfits offered everything she truly wanted from life but because she is the master of deception, she has diluted herself into thinking she already has everything she wants.

Ellie squealed loudly and pulled both of them to her for an embrace, "I was only kidding. I'm almost under the impression that the polar ice caps will melt before anything like that happens but this is great! I'm so happy for you both."

Chuck and Sarah shared a smile slash grimace over Ellie's shoulder. '_Our pace is getting rather old,'_ he thought. Chuck chuckled nervously, "Ha, ha. Okay Ellie. This is good news but so is breathing."

Ellie released them with a sheepish grin, "Sorry. I've been overly excitable lately."

"Lately?" Chuck teased, "I'm sorry sister but that is just your personality."

She playfully slapped his arm, "Let's eat." She led them to the table but she didn't stop with them as she continued into the kitchen, "Take a seat. I'll get the chicken."

Devon looked up from the counter where he was finishing the tossed salad. He was wearing a light blue oxford button down rolled to just below the elbow and khaki pants with an apron over top. He greeted her with a smile and said, "Hey, Babe. I heard the news and I think it's awesome." He laid down the tongs and reached behind his back to untie the knot keeping the apron secure. He picked up the bowl of salad and hung the apron on the hook next to the fridge. As he was walking past her, he gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. "Dinner smells awesome, Babe."

She smiled appreciatively, "Thanks. I just hope their plan sticks this time. I mean, I didn't realize that a hotel could be so strict about someone staying there."

"I know. But, hey, at least they were able to give the required notice. You know, the Jenson's just moved out of the apartment across the courtyard. Maybe they could look into nabbing that place."

"See, that's why I love you," Ellie's grin grew, "You always have the best ideas. You can mention it to them at dinner."

************

Grace finished making a small bowl of soup and a fresh fruit salad for Eve and loaded their dinners on the tray. She swiftly but delicately made her way out of the kitchen so she doesn't drop the plate. After years of being a waitress this was like second nature to her. It was easy and she made it look so. As she made her way to her only table for the night, the previous tension had dwindled significantly. John looked up at her as she approached. _'He's always so observant and at the ready,'_ she thought. "Okay, we've got a club sandwich with everything," she said placing the food in front of Trisha, "and a 'man's breakfast' as you say, John, of pancakes, sausage, bacon, eggs over easy with a side of whole grain wheat toast and hash browns," she said, putting the plates in front of Casey. "And for you, Eve, it's my grandma's secret soup recipe with a fresh fruit salad. Voila," she rested the entrée in front of Eve with a flourish of her hand.

Eve smiled largely. It all looked and smelled so good. While she would rather have what Uncle Casey was having, she knew she would probably have a rough night if she did. At least the soup actually seemed somewhat appetizing and if she got sick it would be easier to deal with this kind of food over a heavy meal such as Uncle Casey's. "Wow! It looks amazing!"

"Thanks. I hope you like it," Grace swelled with pride, "Is there anything else I can get for you? Any refills?"

"No thank you," Trisha said smiling. "You've definitely gone above and beyond in your service." It was nice to see someone treating people she barely knew as if they were staying in her home. It felt very welcoming. Trisha was nervous about LA as it seemed to be a shallow place filled with shallow people but so far, so good.

"No worries. Anything you need, just give a holler."

***********

Awesome and Ellie made it to the dining room with the salad and chicken. All the other side dishes had been put out before Sarah and Chuck arrived. "Awesome news guys about moving in together. I'm glad you guys worked it out with your landlord, Sarah."

Chuck had told Ellie that he wouldn't be able to move in with Sarah until her lease was up at the hotel and since the contract didn't have a buy out option, she was stuck with staying for the time being, which was just another lie to add the grotesquely long list anyway. "They drove a hard bargain," Chuck said before Sarah could say anything, "but I have been known to be quite charming when I want to be." He never told Sarah what excuse he had used to get out of the moving in thing originally. But, this was Sarah. She was good on her feet and unless you knew that she didn't know, you never would have figured it out.

Sarah smiled and stated simply, "Don't I know it." It was very true. Chuck can be charming. Bryce was charming but in a completely different way. Chuck was openly charming without realizing he was in fact charming and Bryce was mischievously charming. He was deliberate in his precision and purpose while Chuck was honest and sincere. Both types had their advantage, but with Chuck's way, you never feel manipulated. Sarah matched Chuck's gaze, much like when she agreed with him that he was fantastic, trying to tell him with her eyes that she was telling the truth.

Chuck caught Sarah's look and gave her the big goofy patented Chuck Grin. Even if off handed comments like that were made to protect their cover, it was nice to know that she meant them. He knows he should stop pushing her about her feelings. At times it was quite obvious what they were. But he still couldn't help it. Even though in his book actions spoke louder than words- because let's face it, parents don't tell you they love you just to turn around and walk out the next day- it would be nice to hear what she really had to say sometimes and not have to read between the lines. It's like once her feelings were voiced, they were validated and she couldn't hide from them anymore. Not that she wouldn't try of course.

Ellie watched Chuck and Sarah stare at each other as if she and Devon didn't exist. She wished she could understand why their relationship was so complicated. It was so obvious to everyone around that the feelings were there. Why do they find it so hard? "You guys are too cute," Ellie said with her own version of the Bartowski grin.

Devon decided that since their moment was interrupted that now would be a good time to tell them about the apartment. "I don't know how soon you guys were looking to move, but the Jenson's have moved out of their apartment across the courtyard. It would be awesome if you guys got theirs. It's a little on the big side but there will be plenty of room for you to get your stuff out of the storage garage, Chuck. That'll help save you some money."

"That's a great idea," Chuck said and then looked to Sarah, "Maybe we could look tomorrow if you want. I mean, we have the day off."

"Sounds like a plan." Sarah was ecstatic. This time it really felt like it was going to happen as compared to last time. A small part of her, hidden deep down inside, knew that she would finally get the stability that she has always wanted her whole life even if she wasn't consciously aware of it yet. This was going to be awesome.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

Casey walked through the courtyard toward his apartment with Trisha and Eve. "Could you guys wait here for a second? Since you're early I just want to make sure my bachelor pad doesn't have anything out that it shouldn't."

Eve's eye had a childish glint to them as she teased Casey, "Sure, Uncle Casey. You just want to make sure all your guns are hidden so Mom can't get mad at you." She could feel the weariness settling in. It had been a long, hard, and eventful day and all she wanted to curl up in bed and sleep for as long as humanly possible. Apparently that would have to wait for Uncle Casey to prep.

"Why you little," Casey said playfully as he reached out to tickle her. He was being gentle considering her condition, but their laughter must have been fairly loud since the door to the Bartowski residence opened.

"John?" Ellie questioned. She has certainly never seen him this playful or happy since he moved in next door. He was always this ominous character, dark and brooding. She was never quite sure if she should be scared of him or what. He was definitely the strong, silent type.

Casey and Eve stopped poking each other as they looked over at their witness, "Oh, hi, Ellie. Sorry if we were being loud."

"No, no. It's fine. I was just taking out the trash," she said indicating the sack in her hand. "Sorry to interrupt." Ellie continued walking past the trio. Just as she was about to pass she turned to face John again, "Oh, are you coming to dinner tomorrow night? I don't know if Chuck asked you."

Casey nod shortly, "He told me at work today. I'll have to see how things go tomorrow. Lots of stuff planned."

"Sure," Ellie said friendly. "You're all welcome to come. The more the merrier."

"Thanks, Ellie," John said to her departing figure. He turned to look Trisha. "Don't say a word. She is engaged. Wait here. I'll be right back," Casey said as he unlocked his front door.

"I wasn't going to say anything, John," Trisha said shaking her head. She turned to see her daughter grinning at her in disbelief, "What? I wasn't going to."

Eve rolled her eyes, "Right, Mom." She rubbed a hand against her forehead. The day had certainly been a taxing one. First the long drive and then all the physical exertion. It wasn't too long ago that she would have considered this day easy. She had good days and bad days. While overall today had been great, she was still just so tired. She sat down by the fountain and took a deep breath. She gazed up at the stars wondering what the next few days would hold and hoping they would change everything. This time around was definitely different than last time. And last time she had her Dad with her, too. Everything had changed.

Trisha watched her daughter with concern. Eve was always so strong and tried so hard to hide any feeling of pain. Trisha often wondered how Eve was able to still put the feelings of other's before her own even at this difficult juncture in her life. Trisha knew their time together was limited. Oh, how she missed the constant support of her husband through these times of tribulation. They had gone through so much just to get Eve that she couldn't believe it would all come down to these next few days. Trisha eased herself down next to her precious daughter. She wrapped her arm around Eve's shoulder and shook her gently, "How are you feeling?"

Eve scoffed, "Tired. Ready for bed." While she knew her mom wasn't asking about this moment, she chose to take it that way. As much as she wanted to, she just couldn't make herself open up to her mom about what she was feeling and what she hoped beyond hope would happen while they were in LA. She felt that if she voiced her fears, her mother's condition would worsen also and she just couldn't bare going through this alone.

Sensing that Eve didn't want to talk about it, Trisha replied, "I meant in general but I'll take your response. Since we're here early, what did you want to do tomorrow?" She really wanted her daughter to lay it all out for her but she did understand and respect Eve's reasoning for not doing so.

"I'm not sure. I haven't really thought about it. Maybe just relax? Watch a movie? I don't know." Music played softly behind them and Eve tapped her feet and swayed. She heard someone singing along quietly to the words and allowed herself a moment of calm as she listened. After a few moments she glanced over to her mom and saw her despair. She knew that her mother tried to hide it but she wore her heart on her sleeve. Eve smiled and tried to lighten the mood, "Good song. Come on, Mom, get into it." Eve wiggled more which finally got her mother to laugh.

"Oh, Eve, you're such a goof ball."

Ellie walked back to see the pair laughing and dancing while sitting on the fountain with John no where in sight. She didn't need to be a doctor to know that the young girl was really sick. From this distance, Ellie could tell she was suffering from some form of cancer. Just above the collar of her shirt you could see the beginnings of blisters that were formed when having intense radiation therapy. It looked as though the treatment was only starting since she didn't seem to be resistant to touch, unless she was just hiding it. And with everything she must be feeling, it made Ellie happy to know that this girl could still find the time to laugh. She reminded Ellie of Chuck. She smiled as she approached them, "Hey, John's not leaving you out here all night, is he?" she joked.

The older woman looked up at the neighbor and laughed, "Oh, no. John's not that mean. We arrived a bit early so he wants to make sure he doesn't have anything out that we shouldn't see. Basically he is doing the bachelor five minute clean up."

"Yeah, those days as a bachelor," Ellie laughed. "Sorry I didn't introduce myself earlier. My name is Ellie Bartowski." She held out her hand for the woman to shake.

"Trisha," she said grasping the young woman's hand, "And this is my daughter, Eve."

"Hi," Eve said with a wave and a nod.

"Hi. So how do you guys know John?"

"Oh, John and my husband served in the military together. They were like brothers. So much like brothers that this one took to calling him uncle," Trisha said bumping her shoulder gingerly against Eve's.

"I see. I always thought he was pretty lonely to be honest. He doesn't get many visitors. As a matter of fact, he doesn't much talk about his family. It's lovely to know he has good people in his life."

Trisha nodded, "He has always been one to keep to himself, that's for sure. How about you? How did you meet him?"

"He works with my brother, Chuck, at the Buy More. They drive into work together sometimes. We usually have a weekly dinner with friends but I've never talked to him much except normal pleasantries. I had no idea he was a military man. Should have guessed it by his nature though."

While she isn't aware of the specifics as to why he was here, Trisha was aware that the Buy More was his cover job and that he still hasn't left his government roots. "He does have that dominating presence of authority."

John poked his head out and called to his guests, "Okay, the coast is clear. Come on in." Noticing that Ellie was standing there he absentmindedly said, "Hey Ellie."

Ellie looked at the mother and daughter sitting in front of her, "Well, don't let me keep you. It was a pleasure meeting the both of you and you guys are totally welcome to have dinner with us tomorrow night."

Trisha smiled, "It was a pleasure as well. I will definitely see what we can do about dinner." She helped her daughter to her feet and they made their way to John's apartment.

"Have a good night," Eve called over her shoulder as they passed. "She's really nice, Mom." Eve resisted the urge to lean against her mother to get into Uncle Casey's apartment. Her legs felt like jello and she carefully hid the fact that she winced in pain every time her feet touched the ground, sending jolts of electricity throughout her body. _'But it's only ten steps, fifteen tops, until you get inside. You can do this.' _she cheered herself on. _'All you have to do is make it to the couch and you're home free. Just convince Uncle Casey that the couch is better for you tonight.'_

Ellie walked into her apartment with a smile on her face. It really was good to know that John had people that were close to him. She did spend a lot of time thinking he was alone, but now she didn't feel as though she should worry as much about it after all. She went to the kitchen to make hot chocolate, a nightly routine that helped to calm her before heading off to bed.

Devon was standing at the sink finishing off the dishes. "Hey, Babe. I made you some awesome hot coco. I hope you don't mind."

Ellie smiled broadly at his thoughtfulness. "I don't mind at all. Thank you." She gave him a kiss on the cheek and grabbed her steaming mug from the counter. "I'm going to go change for bed. How long do you think you're going to be?"

Devon looked lovingly at his beautiful fiancé, "About five minutes. What time do you have to be to work tomorrow? I have the graveyard so I'll have to leave after dinner."

"I have to be to the hospital by six in the morning. I'm sorry you have the graveyard."

"No problems. Just means I will be home by lunch."

"Okay. I'll see you in a few," she said standing on her tip toes to give him a kiss.

*********

Chuck and Sarah went to Chuck's room to get ready for bed after dinner. After Awesome had told them at dinner about the apartment across the courtyard opening, Sarah called to inform General Beckman and inquire if that was a reasonable place. It was one of the bigger apartments with four bedrooms and two bathrooms. The General had said that would be a good idea. Then they didn't have to move Casey and both agents could still keep an eye out for the elder Bartowski. Sarah had told Chuck the good news and then went to change for bed. Personally, Chuck thought the General folded a bit too easy. But who was he to say anything? He was the dimwit with the Intersect who only fouled up on missions.

He opened the Morgan Door to allow the night breeze to cool his room for a bit while he changed for bed. Chuck turned on the radio and started to undress for the night, taking off his Buy More NerdHerder button-down shirt and under shirt. He grabbed a pair of sweatpants from the closet and was also going to grab a t-shirt when he realized it had been raided by Sarah and his last clean one was taken. He let out a sigh and slapped his hands against his legs dejectedly. When the song changed to One Republic's song Come Home he started to sing lightly under his breath as he went to his dresser drawer. Hopefully he had one left in there. He really needed to do some laundry.

*********

Sarah stood in front of the mirror after brushing her teeth and washing her face, examining herself for any physical changes. For the past few days, something has felt different with her and she can't seem to figure out what it is. She looked down at her attire and the only thing kind of different was the fact that instead of wearing what she brought over to sleep in, she decided to take one of Chuck's t-shirts. They were looser and more comfortable than what she had which is how she rationalized the decision to herself. Okay so if she were to be honest, it might have a little something to do with the owner of the shirt. Plus she took his last shirt which means she might actually be able to see him shirtless again. The last time she saw that was when they thought they had been gassed but it turned out to be only Hi-C. She was so glad when Jill chose that moment to knock on the door. Serves her right after everything she did to Chuck. Once she took the time to actually look at him after they got out of the shower, she was astonished at what she saw. While he definitely wasn't the most built guy she had ever seen, she was pleasantly surprised to see he did in fact have muscles. Lean muscle like a swimmer would have.

Sarah heard Chuck turn on the radio in his room. If she closed her eyes, she could picture every move he was making in the room. She heard him slap his legs and sigh. _He must have figured out I took his shirt,_ she thought. It sounded like he started mumbling something but she couldn't make out the words. Taking one last look at herself in the mirror, she shook her head and pushed back from the counter. Whatever she thought had changed obviously hadn't and she should let it go. _Time to go see me some Chuck skin._ She smiled and shut out the bathroom light.

She lightly pushed his bedroom door open to watch him for a moment. That mumbling she thought she heard was actually Chuck singing quietly. He wasn't really trying but she guessed that if he did, he would actually be quite good. She leaned against his door frame and watched him look through his dresser drawers.

Suddenly he looked up from his crouched position towards the door, "Hey Dev-" he started, only stopping once he realized Sarah was watching him. He felt very exposed all of a sudden without his shirt on. Ever since their shower a couple months ago, he desperately wanted to avoid this ever happening again, at least until he got into better shape. He could only imagine the things she was thinking, like how skinny and gawky he must be. It was weird that he never thought about changing something about himself to impress a girl before. But Sarah wasn't just any girl. She was _the_ girl. "Oh, Sarah. I didn't hear you there," he said embarrassed, crossing his arms over his chest hoping to cover up a little.

Sarah smiled at his embarrassment. She knew he lacked confidence which really he should have gotten over by now after all that he has done. But that was Chuck, humble and innocent. Sometimes it was like he didn't want to have confidence, like he thought any form of confidence would be viewed as cockiness instead. Chuck was anything but cocky. Even when he had the right to be cocky, he never was. Aside from that though, her craving to see Chuck without his shirt subsided a little but her craving for more just enhanced ten-fold. "Well, I wouldn't very good at my job if you had."

He chuckled nervously, "Right, right. Super-spy and all." He had to uncross his arms so he could stand up to full height, which did nothing to ease his anxiety level. "I see you took my last shirt. What was wrong with yours?" he teased as he covered himself up again.

Sarah innocently put her hands behind her back as she walked into the room towards him. "Oh, nothing is wrong with it. Your shirts are just more comfortable." She placed her hands on either side of his ribcage and rose on her tip-toes to whisper in his ear, "If it would make you more comfortable, you could always wear my shirt." When she stepped away she turned to the bed and pulled back the covers. She looked up to see him staring dumbfounded at her before she got in bed and decided to have some more fun. She reached for the bottom hem of his shirt and started to pull it up. "Or I could just give you back yours."

That snapped him out of it. "No. No, it's fine. Really. Keep it. I don't mind." He was rambling. _Dammit, Chuck! Get a hold of yourself._ "I'll ask Devon for one." He made a move towards the door but Sarah stepped in front of him, blocking his path.

"Chuck, really, it's not a problem. Devon is already in bed with Ellie. You shouldn't bother them. You never know what you'll find with them. Remember the shower incident?"

Chuck shuddered at the thought. That was something he could go the rest of his life without ever seeing ever again. "How could you even bring it up? God, that was so . . . awkward and embarrassing. It's like walking in on your parents . . . doing . . . things-"

Sarah poked him in the stomach with a shake of her head and a smile. "You are such a prude sometimes, Bartowski. Doing things? Seriously? Are you like twelve?"

"Hey, I'm like twelve and a half. Give me some credit, _Walker_."

Sarah laughed, "Ha, because that half makes it so much better."

Chuck loved it when he could get her to laugh. A real, good laugh. It didn't happen often, but when it did, it made the day so much brighter. It has been getting easier as time has gone on. He faked having hurt feelings as he responded, "It does too." Chuck poked Sarah back in the stomach, "Where's your shirt?" If he wanted her to continue laughing, he might as well go all out and make a complete and total ass out of himself.

She looked at him in disbelief, "You're not serious, are you?" Chuck's face remained etched in fake hurt when he held out his hand as if waiting for her to give it to him and didn't say anything. She was starting to wonder if she had actually gotten to him and he was truthfully upset or if he had just gotten better at the acting thing. Sarah sighed, exasperated, "Okay." She crawled over the bed to her overnight bag on the other side, bending down to grab the shirt. She looked at the item in her hand before turning to face him. _What game are you getting at here, Chuck. There is no way you'll fit into this shirt._ She held out her hand with the shirt in it. "Here you go."

Chuck snatched it quickly from her hands continuing with his charade of mock anger. "Thank you." He searched for the bottom hem and shook it out like a trash bag. _At least it isn't pink. _Chuck forcefully threw his arms in and whipped the shirt over his head.

Sarah bit her lip and covered her mouth with her hand. She was positive her eyes were wide with giddiness as she attempted to hold back her laughter. Her shirt was definitely far too small for him. She is pretty sure she heard the distinct sound of the seams ripping. The offending cloth hit just below his belly button, leaving about an inch and a half of skin between the bottom of it and the top of his sweatpants. The sleeves have to be cutting off his circulation to his arms and the fabric stretched tightly across his chest. There is no way he could be remotely comfortable as this moment. _Perhaps that is what he was trying to do. Lighten the moment. It would be a very Chuck thing to do. _She couldn't hold back any longer as laughter erupted from behind her hand.

Chuck looked down at himself in mock indignation, "Well that just won't do." He hadn't looked directly at Sarah yet but out of the corner of his eye he could see her amusement and he is pretty sure he heard a snort. Just the reaction he wanted. It was never a good thing for a person to be so stoic all the time. Her blood pressure must be through the roof and if that was her, imagine what Casey's must be like. Finally turning to look at her he says, "I hope you're happy." He fussed with the garment, trying to get it off. While some of it was for play, he really wanted to get it off. It was starting to become unpleasant. After a few moments he stopped and took a deep breath to relax himself. He was getting agitated and a little claustrophobic.

Sarah noticed him calming himself. She decided to try lightening the mood for him as he has done for her, "Aww, Chuck! It looks fabulous! Like its found a new home."

"Its about to get evicted!" Chuck tried a few more times to get it off, unsuccessfully. "Seriously, Sarah, a little help here."

Sarah let out a breath and moved to help him. "Alright. I'll help you. But for the record, you did this to yourself."

"Yeah at your provocation. As I recall, this was your idea."

As he bent forward at the waist, Sarah replied, "I didn't think you'd actually go for it and I offered to give you yours back." She tried to pull it over his head but it seemed his shoulders were too broad and the shirt wouldn't make it past his arm pits.

"Oh yeah because a striptease would make things so much better on my end!" he retorted angrily. The shirt was turning inside out at their continued attempts, trapping Chuck's head inside which did nothing but make him more frustrated. What had started out as simple fun has turned an argument. He couldn't take it anymore! Chuck stood abruptly causing Sarah to stumble backwards onto the bed as he shouted impatiently, "Gah, this just isn't working!" He dropped his arms down to his sides allowing the shirt to correct itself and his head to poke out. In his haste and need to get the shirt as far away from him as possible, Chuck brought both hands to the collar and tugged the shirt apart, ripping it down the middle allowing him to free himself from its confines. He balled up the cloth and threw it forcefully to the ground. "I'm going to ask Devon for a shirt," he said as he marched past Sarah and out of the room.

Once Sarah hit the bed, she had propped herself up on her elbows and watched as Chuck unceremoniously ripped her shirt off his body. Her breath hitched at the sight. It was simultaneously the most erotic and torturous thing she had witnessed, and that's saying something considering her chosen career path. Erotic because who would have thought that Chuck could do that? It was sexy. And torturous because it made her mind wander to places she should stay far far away from but found herself going more often than not. She followed him with her eyes as he vacated the room without looking at her. It was a good thing he didn't look too. She wasn't exactly sure what he would have seen, but she was fairly certain her eyes had taken on a deeper shade of blue and her mouth hung open.

She dropped onto her back and sighed loudly bringing her hands to either side of her head. Taking in a deep breath, she rub her face a couple times as she said to herself, "Come on, Walker. Get it together." She crawled underneath the sheets and cocooned herself inside, waiting for him to return. Hopefully it wouldn't be awkward when he did. They had come so far since this afternoon and this whole dance of one step forward, eighty steps back was starting to take its toll. Okay, so maybe that is exaggerating it but that's what it felt like. This would be so much easier if only-

Her thoughts were interrupted by Chuck's return. Noticing she was in bed, he flipped out the lights and plopped onto the bed causing Sarah bounce a little. Obviously, she didn't want to talk. He started to get under the covers as he said quietly, "I'm sorry about your shirt. I'll get you a new one tomorrow."

Sarah rolled over to look at him as he settled beneath the sheets. "You don't have to. I have plenty more for you to rip off." Sarah's eyes widened in shock. She hadn't meant to say that last part. _Way to make it less awkward, Sarah._ "I mean- what I meant was-" she stopped and started trying to think of some way to make it better. The sad realization had dawned on her that there wasn't any explanation. She had meant exactly what she said. "I think that-"

Chuck watched Sarah blush in the moonlight and struggle with an explanation. A flustered Sarah rarely happened and mainly only happened when she let her guard down. Knowing that she meant what she said left him with a feeling of insurmountable joy. With a small smile gracing his face, he reached out and put his hand over hers effectively stopping her tirade. "It's okay, Sarah. I get it."

Sarah sat up, removing her hand from his. While she was flattered that he swooped in to save her, he shouldn't have needed to in the first place. She should have watched her tongue. "No, Chuck. I really don't think you do." She turned on the bedside lamp and looked at him. His eyes were filled with hurt but he didn't say anything as he waited to see if she would continue. Sarah couldn't bear hurting him anymore. Each time she does she drives the knife further and further into both their backs.

Chuck watched as she opened the drawer next to his bed and pulled out a pen. She sat thoughtfully looking at it and he was confused as to its significance. It was just a pen. She looked so deep in thought that he didn't want to interrupt. Try as he might, he couldn't stand it anymore. "What's the pen for, Sarah?"

She looked to him and then back to the pen. Her hand lingered over the top for a moment as she thought some more. She pulled off the top and twisted the device. A red light switched to green as she the words began to spill out of her mouth at a mile a minute, "It's a bug killer. I have about a minute to explain this to you so you'll have to keep quiet." Only once he nodded did she continue, "Chuck, I really don't know how to start. The long and short of it is I want you but I can't have you. I'd be on the first plane back to DC and I don't know if I could live with that. I don't know if I could trust anyone else to take care of you. And I've stupidly allowed myself to start relying on you because you've shown me a different perspective to life, to me. You have become such a big part of my happiness and that isn't good. What if I screw up and you die? What if I let you in and you don't like what you find? I couldn't handle that. I fight against myself everyday between what I want to do and what I need to do and everyday you inch closer and closer to a need. I don't want to be reassigned but I need to be reassigned for your safety but selfishly, I'll never ask for one because I need you. Being around you feels right and wrong all at the same time . . . is this making any sense to you?" She didn't wait for him to respond as she pressed on rubbing her hand against her forehead in frustration, "I'm not like you, Chuck. I don't run off my emotions. I have to analyze everything. I have to weigh the benefits to the risks. I can't just decide to drop everything on a whim. I mean what if I'm only feeling this way because people want what they can't have? That's not fair to you or to me. I can't let the CIA go, Chuck. I just can't. I'm not ready-" The light switched back to red. Sarah let her shoulders drop while she hung her head in her hands. She should have known a minute wouldn't be long enough and now the last thing she said was that she wasn't ready._ God! Why does this have to be so complicated?!_

Chuck struggled to keep up with everything she was saying, she was talking so fast. She was right. He really didn't have any idea what this was like on her end. And apparently they had just scratched the surface. It wasn't really his fault he didn't know since she never offered any information nor was it her fault either. After meeting her father, he learned she was emotionally constipated before the CIA ever got involved. He was glad he finally got something out of her though. She didn't really say anything he didn't already know but somehow this time was different. He looked up at her throughout her entire confession but looked away when the blasted light changed back to red and he started to process what she said.

Out of no where, Sarah threw the pen across the room with a small scream of frustration. Her hands went back to her head and she clenched her fist in her hair. She was on the verge of tears and she knew it which did nothing but anger her even more. It shouldn't be like this. He shouldn't have this effect on her. To allow him that power is deadly for both parties. Before she knew it a sob escaped her and her shoulders jerked.

Chuck was at immediate attention after Sarah released the pen. He's never seen her so upset before. He carefully sat up unsure of what to do to make it better. She looked so lost. While he wasn't sure if this was the best thing, he took his right arm and placed it around her shoulders, tipping her into him. Both of her shins dug into his thighs but he didn't mind. She didn't fight him so it was worth the slight discomfort. He soothingly rubbed her arm and her back while she fought to regain her composure. Once she did, they still sat like that basking in the silence. It could have been minutes, it could have been hours, he wasn't sure. What made Chuck notice the significant passing of time though was that his leg no longer had circulation. It had fallen asleep and was all tingly. "Hey, Sarah," he said quietly so as not to disturb her.

"Hmm?"

"You think you might be able to move your shins out of my leg? It's lost circulation."

"Oh, sorry," she said as she moved back to her side of the bed and out of his embrace.

Chuck was dismayed that she moved away. "That wasn't an invitation to leave entirely, you know." He held open his arms to see if she would take the bait. He didn't think she would, what with her wanting professional barriers and everything but you couldn't blame a guy for trying.

Sarah sighed looking at his arms. Everything felt right there. She felt safe and loved. All the things she shouldn't feel. Its like its too late for her to do the right thing now. She's been there, she's felt what its like to be there and what its like not being there. She wanted to hide there forever but she hesitated.

And in her hesitation, he was able to finally see her inner battle. Like she said, she wanted it but she couldn't have it. So he dropped his arms. And Sarah nodded, like she had expected him to give up and she resigned herself to the fact that she would never have anyone. He didn't want her to think that at all because he would always be there. Even if she left, he would always have a place for her down the road if she wanted to come back. He leaned closer to her and whispered in her ear hoping the microphones around wouldn't pick up what he had to say, "Sarah, whenever you're ready, I'm here. I'll wait for you. My arms are always open." He slid back down so his back rested supine on the mattress. Short, sweet, and to the point. He closed his eyes to get some sleep. Tomorrow, they had to pick out their décor for their new apartment. They'd be moved in within the week. He would make tomorrow special, just for Sarah. He may not know much about her past, but he did know what she liked so he was pretty sure he could pull it off.

Sarah turned off the light once his eyes were closed but stayed awake against the headrest. She watched his breathing start to even out but continued to stare. For how long she wasn't certain. She thought for sure he would have backed down. Nothing was resolved but he was so calm in his acceptance. Like he didn't expect anything else from her but he had gotten what he needed. It was bizarre to her how he knew what she needed better than she did. This assignment has been the most odd experience of her whole life. She wasn't prepared to feel so . . . connected to another person. She was always a loner and kind of a loser before she made it in the CIA. She expected that Chuck wasn't too different in High School than she was except that he was loved by all instead of shunning everybody. He was just that type of person.

"Chuck?" she whispered quietly but her voice cracked from the lack of moisture. His shoulder moved but he didn't wake. She cleared her voice softly but tried again, "Chuck?" She was so quiet she could barely hear herself. There was no way he would hear her. She looked at her hands in her lap wondering if she should try again or let it go.

Before she knew it, his hand was over hers and she gasped. "You think too much you know?" Chuck said sleepily. "What can I do for you?"

Sarah was shocked. "You heard me call for you?"

"No," he said, "I don't know how to explain it. I felt like you needed me awake so I woke up." He rubbed his eyes with his hand as she slid down to face him. Whether it was his sleep induced state that made him say the next thing or not, he'll never know but he moved forward when she didn't say anything. "I heard my parents talking about it one time when I was maybe eight. They always just seemed to know when the other needed them. They said it was because their hearts talked instead of their heads. My mom told me that that's how you know you found something real, because your hearts conversed. I didn't really understand nor did I think it was possible until I met you." When she didn't say anything he said, "It sounds pretty stupid, doesn't it?"

"No, Chuck. It doesn't sound stupid." _As a matter of fact, that's exactly what it felt like, my heart reaching out for you._ Sarah was stunned. She realized the change that she felt in herself but couldn't figure out earlier was that her heart was trying to communicate with this man and she was preventing it by her overly analytical tendencies.

Chuck breathed in deeply, "So, what do you need, Miss Walker? A glass of water? A backrub? Some good old fashioned midnight snack?"

Sarah laughed at his antics. "Well, now that I think about it, a sandwich would be nice."

"One toasted turkey sandwich with extra pickles and the works coming right up," he said as he moved to get up, only stopping when she grabbed his forearm.

"I was only kidding. Besides, I could do that myself."

"I know. You can do anything." Sarah's stomach growled. The sandwich thing was a joke but she was kinda hungry. Chuck looked at her and smiled, "So, you were saying? I'll get you that sandwich."

Sarah looked at him in disbelief. He was honestly going to let her wake him up this late (or early depending how you looked at it) to make her a _sandwich?!_ He wasn't even going to complain about it. What kind of world was she living in? Sarah followed him out the door to the kitchen. He started pulling out the condiments from the refrigerator and put four pieces of bread in the toaster. "You're really going to do it, aren't you?" Sarah said with a hint of amazement laced through her tone. He looked at her as if saying, 'What does it look like I'm doing?' She shook her head like she was trying to be sure that it was actually happening. She couldn't believe it. Nobody did that before, not even her parents. "Am I allowed to help?" she asked as the toast popped up.

"Of course," Chuck said as he laid out the bread on the counter. Sarah made he way next to him and was about to grab a knife when he said, "You can get the drinks."

Sarah smiled and nodded her head, "Okay. Is water okay with you?" She opened the cupboard and grabbed two cups.

"Water would be perfect."

Sarah filled the glasses with ice and water and made her way to the kitchen table. She put both glasses down across from each other and sat facing the kitchen, waiting for Chuck to bring the sandwiches. Her left leg was against her chest and her right leg was tucked underneath. She rested her head on her knee as she waited. Sarah was grateful that Chuck decided she was worth the trouble of learning the little things. That he contented himself with those rather than seeking stories from her past. It was a different way of learning about someone, more intimate.

Sarah looked up at Chuck as he entered the room. "One toasted turkey sandwich with extra pickles," he said laying the plate in front of her. On the side was even an extra sliced pickle on display in the form of a smiley face. She smiled brightly at his considerateness. It looked so good. Chuck had already started eating his sandwich while Sarah just looked at hers in awe. It was only a sandwich. But it was made by someone who cared about her. Chuck watched Sarah as she sat looking at her plate with a smile on her face. As if reading her mind, he said, "It's just a sandwich. It doesn't do any tricks."

"I know. It's just, you made it exactly how I like it and I've only had this sandwich once around you. I can't believe you remembered . . . You even cut it diagonally." She looked up at him shyly. "I've- No one's ever done anything like this for me."

"Made you a sandwich?" Chuck questioned confused.

"Yeah. At two o'clock in the morning, no less, after waking them up." Sarah leveled her eyes with his and cocking her head to the side. "You're one in a billion, Chuck."

Chuck smile spread quickly across his face as his cheeks reached an unnatural shade of red. "Thanks. You too, Sarah. Although I can say honestly that I've never met anyone quite like you."

************

"Would you like some coffee?" Casey asked as Trisha helped ease Eve onto the couch. Trisha seemed to miss the grimace on Eve's face when Trisha held her shoulder.

"Thanks, Mom," she muttered. As Trisha walked away to the kitchen where Casey was, Eve laid out across the couch. Luckily she was wearing flipflops so it didn't take much to kick off her shoes. She grabbed the blanket draped across the back of the couch and curled up. She wanted to stay awake for a bit more but her eyes betrayed her and soon she drifted off to sleep.

"I'm ok. I think I need to get Eve into bed."

Casey grunted, "Eve already put herself to bed." He nodded his head towards the living room.

Trisha looked back to see her daughter fast asleep. "Oh, she should be in a bed, John-" Trisha moved to go further into the living room when he interrupted her by grabbing her arm.

"Let her be, Trish. That couch is more comfortable than it looks and I'm twice the size she is."

"I know, but I worry about her. I want her to be comfortable."

"She is a grown woman. When are you going to stop looking at her as the kid you and David rescued and start to see the woman you've helped her become?"

"She is sick, John." Trisha's eyes watered. Thinking just how sick her precious child is was enough to make any mother

"You don't think I know that? You don't think I see just how much effort it is for her to take a breath? We need to stay positive. This treatment is the best option for her that we have right now. We have to believe it will work."

"But what if it doesn't, John? What happens then? I can't go through loosing another baby. Especially so soon after loosing my husband."

"This isn't about you. This is about her and what she needs. Right now, she needs her mom's support. If she does happen to go, then we'll cross that bridge when we get to it. Wouldn't it be enough to know that you gave her a good life? Wouldn't it be enough to know she'd be with David again?"

"She still has so much left to live for-"

"Exactly. Which is why she will fight tooth and nail to make it happen. Don't give up on your daughter, Trisha. She didn't give up on you."

"This is just so hard!"

"I know-"

"No you don't, John. Not really. This time . . . it's not like last time. This could really be it." She could feel her heart rate increasing as this conversation has gone on. It was beating at an astronomical rate now and if she didn't calm down, Eve wouldn't be the only one needing the hospital.

Casey saw her pulse point on her neck beating rapidly. Casey grabbed her head and forced her to look at him, "Look at me. Follow my breathing. In through you're nose, out through your mouth. You're doing great, Trisha." He could feel her heart beat slow as her breathing became less erratic. "Good job. Stay with me." He guided her to the kitchen table and pulled a chair for her to sit in. "Wait right here. I'll be right back." Casey ran out his front door and across the courtyard to the Bartowski residence. He knocked rapidly at the door.

Ellie was just about down the hall when she heard the knock. "I'll get it," she said. When she opened the door to a frazzled neighbor she immediately grew concerned. "John? What's wrong?"

"It's Trisha. I think she is having a panic attack. For the most part she has calmed down but I was wondering if you could take a look at her to make sure? Eve has had a really long day and I'm not sure if we should move her unnecessarily."

Ellie put her mug of coco down on the table by the door. "Devon, come over to Casey's and bring your bag," she said as she rushed out the door with John. Ellie could do the examination but Devon was the heart expert so it never hurt to have a second look especially when it involved someone you know. John came through the door with Ellie right on his heels. They didn't speak as Ellie passed around him straight to Trisha. She wondered why John would get his neighbor. "Hi, Trisha. Sorry to see you so soon under these circumstances." Ellie's tone was soothing and in direct contrast to her speed with which she was looking through her kit. She grabbed her stethoscope and put them in her ears as she continued to explain what she was doing. "I'm going to check your heart rate and blood pressure." She pulled out a blood pressure monitor and proceeded to attached the device to Trisha. Everything was being done as silently as possible so as not to disturb Eve. "We just want to make sure that we don't need to take you to the hospital. John, go ask Devon to bring his EKG machine when he comes." She didn't look to see if he did but assumed he would as per his training from his former profession and directed her attention back to the machine. Trisha blood pressure was dangerously high and her pulse was all over the place. "Okay. I'm going to give you some oxygen to help regulate you breathing." She pulled out a small travel tank of oxygen and attached it to a brand new mask holding it over Trisha's mouth. The color has drained almost completely from her face.

Devon came through the door quickly and silently with his EKG machine and prepared to attach the electronic readers to his patient. "Hi Trisha. My name is Devon Woodcomb. I'd like to put the readers on you but I need to put some on your chest. Would you mind if I unbuttoned your blouse?" When she shook her head, both doctors took it as a good sign that she was coherent enough to understand. Devon undid the top four buttons on her shirt leaving her as modest as possible in front of the strangers. Her coloring had started to improve from when he entered the apartment. It seems they were moving in the right direction. "Talk to me Ellie. Where are we at?" Devon turned on the machine and began reading it output.

"BP is 140 over 90, heart rate has been more difficult to identify. She started at 160 bpm and I checked again we were down to 100 bpm so I check a third time to be sure and we were back to 120 bpm. She has only been sitting here though."

"Okay. Let's check again. The EKG readout is coming to a more normal rate. John, would you get a glass of water please?" As Ellie checked her pulse, Devon looked to Trisha, "Okay, Trisha. How are you doing?" She just nodded her head and Devon took it as a sign to continue, "Good. From out readouts here, it seems you have a heart murmur which can make it difficult to ascertain a heart rate and could also be causing the panic attack. Were you aware you had a murmur?"

She shook her head. She was pretty sure when it would have started, after that damn mission in Afganistan. It wasn't bad enough that her family had genetic heart conditions but now she has this too.

"Okay. Most murmurs go unnoticed for the majority of life. Do you have a family history of heart problems?" Trisha nodded solemnly. Devon saw many emotions pass across her features. Obviously she has had more experience than she would like.

"Heart rate is normal but on the higher end of normal," Ellie stated.

John had put the glass of water on the table. Devon reached out to grab it and put it in front of Trisha. "Alright. Take slow easy sips. Do you mind if we speak to John regarding your situation?" Trisha shook her head and the two doctors left with John to the kitchen.

"So?"

Devon and Ellie looked at each other. Ellie gave Devon permission to explain things to John. "Everything at this point is stable. It appears you were able to de-escalate the situation before it got out of hand. Without knowing her medical history, we have no way to determine if there is anything more serious happening as of this point. I don't think a hospital is necessary at this point but I do think she should get in to see a cardiologist as soon as possible so we can head off any future problems. If you'd like, I'll go over her medical history and see what options are available."

John shook his head. Devon didn't have the security clearance to look into Trisha's file. "I think she might already have a cardiologist. I know she has a family history of heart conditions so it wouldn't surprise me if she did."

"Okay. I'd like to keep the EKG machine on her tonight to monitor her readings. We can send them with her to her next doctor appointment. Other than that, I'd say rest up and try to have as little stress as possible for the next while."

John grunted, "Great. Thank you both. I'm sorry for interrupting."

"Don't mention it," Ellie said. "That's what neighbors are for. Have her keep the oxygen on for another hour and then see how she is doing. If you need more I have another tank at home."

"Yeah, Bro. I don't have to work until ten tomorrow night. I can come over in the afternoon for a check up if you'd like."

"I'll talk to Trisha and let you know." He walked them to the door. "Thanks again." He waved as they went across the courtyard. He closed the door and locked it behind him. This is going to be more difficult than watching Bartowski.

*******************************************************

Thanks everyone for reading! Any feedback would be awesome.

By the way, not to be nitpicky about things but I just thought I'd let everyone know that supine is when you are laying on your back and prone is laying on your stomach. Huge pet peeve when I read other stories and they have that wrong. Easiest way to remember is supine on the spine.

Just a little disclaimer for the medical stuff I went to school for massage therapy so I have a little background in medical terminology but am in no way a doctor so any doctor stuff is probably not accurate.


	4. Chapter 4

Hey guys! Thanks for all your reviews. Dwarfius, I just wanted to let you know that you'll learn why Casey acts the way he does with Trisha and Eve down the road. But I will try my best to keep him in character. He seems to be the most trouble for me so anyone noticing anything too far OOC please do tell. And I went back and read the chapter again and you were right about the timing. Sorry about that.

I wanted to get this out yesterday but time got away from me. Sorry . . .

Chapter four

Trisha walked down the stairs the next morning and immediately turned her attention to Eve. Yesterday had been a long day and last night was even longer. She had to keep her emotions under control or she'd be in serious trouble. The last thing she wanted was to leave Eve alone. Casey was right to tell her this wasn't about her. She needed to be strong for her daughter just as her daughter was for her. She couldn't help but feel a little bit responsible for Eve not going to the doctors sooner than she did this time. The first time around Eve had been away at school. She would call almost every day and you could hear the weariness in her voice when she would. Trisha pestered her about it but Eve would only say that she was feeling under the weather and it was nothing to worry about. When Eve had come home over winter break, both she and David could see that something was terribly wrong with their daughter. Casey had been the one to finally convince Eve that it was best to go to the doctor.

Those two had the strangest bond. One would say jump and the other would ask how high. Trisha never understood it. Their relationship had been that way since the very beginning. Eve was actually the reason that Trisha felt John was human. He always seemed so malicious and cold. He rarely spoke to Trisha, even though they had worked together. His communication was grunting. David had assured her that John was a big softy at heart but that he'd gone through a lot when they were growing up so he played things close to the belt.

John and Eve would talk for hours whenever they were together. Trisha had once accused him of assaulting Eve. They both vehemently denied the accusation and David even asked her how she could think such a thing. But that caused John to stay away for a very long time after that. Thinking back on it she had been way out of line. She hadn't understood why she was so irrational all the time during those days but upon further research of the drug she had been infected with in Afghanistan, she learned that it causes a break down in the communication of the hypothalamus to the pituitary gland creating responses such as aggression. It happened so slowly that it could take years for the problem to manifest itself. She immediately went in for a CAT scan and MRI after that to ensure there was no serious damage. It turned out that she had a small, almost invisible tumor attached to the gland that was heightening her reactions to stimuli. The trouble was you had to specifically be looking for it to have found it and that's why it went unnoticed for so long.

John had come to make sure she was okay after her surgery for its removal. Even after all that she said to him years before, he still cared enough to come, like when it had been his duty all those years before. She had cried and said how sorry she was and that she didn't really mean it. She never thought he would actually hurt Eve, its just that when she saw Eve crying and John standing over her, her mind went crazy with rage. John had been his normal silent self and hadn't said anything since he opened the door. All through her apology he didn't even show any emotion at all. Once she had finished, he stood to leave and went for the door. Without turning to face her, he asked, "So does that mean I can see Eve again?" Of course she had said yes and then he looked at her and she saw him smile for the first time in all the years she'd known him as he said, "It's all forgotten." In that moment was when she finally saw what David saw in him, when John truly accepted someone as a friend. And true to his word, he never brought it up again. The only thing really different about their relationship was that instead of receiving just grunts she got mostly grunts with a hint on conversation. Although as time went on, they did start having deeper conversations, especially after David died.

She redirected her thoughts to the present and saw that Eve was still sleeping. Normally Eve would wake at the smallest sounds and be on alert. But when the going gets rough nothing short of an earthquake could rouse her from sleep. Trisha decided to grab her book she brought with her and wait for Eve to wake by herself. John had gone outside earlier to wash his car and said to yell if she needed anything. Trisha settled at the kitchen table with a snack for while she read.

*******************

Eve awoke a few hours later almost as tired as she was when she went to bed the previous night. She looked around the room as best she could assessing where she was as her surroundings were unfamiliar. Her eyes landed on a picture of a certain former President known as Ronald Regan (who was also an actor at one time, no joke) and she knew precisely where she was. _'Right. Mom and I are staying with Uncle Casey. I remember.'_ She eased herself into a sitting position and cast a squinted glance over the room. Her body ached all over the place. Today was the start of detox from her previously regimented medicine. She had to go at least 48 hours without any medication before she was able to start the trial treatment. _'Great. Pain all day long. Woot, woot. Can't wait.' _Chemotherapy had stopped working for her and the radiation was having trouble gaining control of the situation by itself. Right now everything has remained the same statistically but with no improvement towards recovery. Granted that also meant she wasn't worsening either. '_I guess that's something,' _Eve thought sardonically. She rubbed her eyes with the heal of her hand, starting to feel more awake than before. She looked over to the kitchen and saw her mother immersed in one of her books. Eve smiled to herself. "You know, Mom, if you stay that concentrated on that book you won't have anything left to read while you're here," she said her voice still gravelly from sleep.

Trisha looked over her shoulder at her daughter, "Oh, you're awake." She looked back to her book and memorized the page number before closing it and placing it down on the table, looking back over to Eve. "How are you feeling?"

Eve mentally grimaced, '_Like I've been run over by an eighteen wheeler.' _Instead she responded with, "Like I should have brushed my teeth last night. Where's Uncle Casey?"

Trisha let out a small laugh. Eve was quite pale on her face and the blisters were much more prominent today than yesterday. Her skin had blotchy red patches where the radiation hit it. She must be in a considerable amount of pain. "He is outside washing his car. Men and their toys," she said, shaking her head. "I thought he would be done already though."

"He probably is vacuuming and all that junk. Gotta hand it to him though. That car always looks immaculate." Eve rested her left arm on the back of the couch and leaned against it, closing her eyes once again.

"That it does." Trisha watched Eve rely on the couch to keep her upright. She wondered how she could get Eve to open up. It has to be so draining to keep everything bottled up. This disease changed Eve's whole life. It's kept her from doing things she should have done. For instance, when Eve had come home over the winter break, she was supposed to be in a competition to see if she could be on the Olympic team for gymnastics, which was one of Eve's biggest dreams growing up, but she wasn't able to. Instead she had to go to Doctors appointment after Doctors appointment to find the right course of action. Eve had taken it in stride but you could tell she was more than disappointed about not being able to participate. She let out a sigh.

"What?" Eve said monotone and a little annoyed. She knew when her mother got to thinking about things and what that sigh meant. It meant she had something to say to her but she didn't know how to do it and that Eve probably wasn't going to like the direction the conversation would turn. That sigh normally happened at the start of a mother-daughter arguement.

"I-," Trisha still wasn't sure how to say it. "It's nothing."

Eve looked at her mom. "It's not nothing. What is it?"

Trisha paused for words. "I just wish that you would tell me exactly how you were feeling every once in a while, you know? It can't be healthy for you to keep it locked inside. I want to know. I want you to talk to me-"

"Talking about it doesn't help, Mom. You'd just look at me with pity and I don't want that."

"I don't look at you with pity-"

"Yes you do, Mom," Eve interrupted, her voice raising, "You're doing it right now."

Their argument was disrupted by the front door opening. Casey came around the corner carrying his bucket of cleaning supplies and saw Eve sitting up on the couch. "Hey, sleepy head. Gonna sleep the whole day away, are ya?" John wasn't stupid. He knew he walked in on the disagreement. _'Its probably a good thing so they don't end up saying something they would regret.'_

Eve smiled at Casey, thankful he came in when he did. "That isn't exactly plan A. I was wondering if we could rent some movies or something today? I don't think I'm up for too much beyond that."

"Sure. I'll go get changed."

As Casey was making his way to the stairs, the TV flashed on. "Major Casey," the official sounding voice of General Beckman came through. Her hardened expression faltered after seeing Eve sitting on his couch. Her voice softened as she said, "Oh, I didn't know you guys had made it already." She was going to inform him about the arrangements made for Walker and the Intersect but seeing who was currently occupying her screen, her plans changed.

Eve head whipped towards the screen. "Grams!" Eve smiled brightly towards her. It had been a while since she was able to see her grandmother. They talked over the phone a lot but now she was really wanting to get one of these video feeds. It surprised Eve how much she missed just seeing her. "We came early."

"I can see that. How are you settling in?" Beckman had long since given up asking how Eve was feeling since she never answered the question anyway. Even from this distance she could see the blisters on Eve's chest and the paleness of her skin so she assumed she mustn't be feeling too well.

"Just fine, thanks. Are you going to be visiting soon?"

"I hope so. Where's your mother?"

Trisha sat down next to Eve on the couch. "Hello, Diane." She didn't say it with malice nor did she say it friendly. You could say it was tolerance or civility. They didn't exactly have a friendly meeting the last time they spoke so she wasn't sure what to expect. Trisha felt that Diane thought she wasn't doing enough for her daughter. Diane was the one who found this treatment option and basically took over making the decisions for Eve. Trisha thought this treatment was too risky but Diane had spoken to Eve about it before her so Eve was on Diane's side when the debate started. She could be so manipulative sometimes and it frustrated the hell out of Trisha.

"Trisha. I'm glad you made it safely."

"I didn't think it would be a good idea for a road trip while Eve couldn't take her pain medicine," she responded flatly.

Diane's eyes narrowed, "I wasn't insinuating that-"

"Alright, enough," Eve said. _'God they could be so frustrating sometimes! The decision was made. Get over it,' _she though before she continued, "That's enough. Mom, just because Grams found time to look for treatment options does not mean that she is over stepping your bounds. And Grams, just because Mom was resistant to this option does not mean she doesn't hold my best interests at heart. This was _my_ choice. I am old enough to make my own medical decisions without a parent present. You would both do well to remember that." Eve scooted to the edge of the couch. She needed to get out of the room. Her patience was being tested. With all the pain she was feeling it was hard to keep her temper at bay. If she spent the day watching movies or reading books she could avoid conversation with another person. "Now, I'm going to get ready for the day and then go with Uncle Casey to get movies and maybe some books from the library. Maybe you guys should take the time to hash out whatever it is that is bothering you." She pushed up to her feet but the pain from walking in last night was nothing in comparison to this. A wave of nausea hit her like a locomotive and she became unsteady on her feet. Normally she has had medicine by this time to help with the nausea and pain. Both Trisha and Beckman reached out to her as it seemed like she was about to collapse and the grunt Eve let out as she stood did nothing to quell their fears. With her jaw clenched, Eve grunted out, "Don't." She didn't want to be touched. It would only make it worse. She never realized how much the medication diluted her pain. Eve took a few deep breaths before gingerly walking past Casey and going up the stairs.

John decided to follow her up just in case. He wouldn't touch unless necessary. It would be easier to deal with the pain of someone catching her over falling down the stairs. Eve stopped moving and gave him a look that said she could handle this. "I'm only following. I won't touch."

"Fine," Eve said through her still clenched teeth. With one hand she braced the hand railing, the other hand against the wall. She took a few more cleansing breaths before she started moving again. She was annoyed that it had come to this. It wasn't so long ago that she was able to take care of herself, but its getting to the point where she needs people and being dependent on another person wasn't exactly in the top ten of her stronger character traits.

He followed her all the way to the bathroom. On his way, he picked up her bag with her toiletries and clothes so she didn't have to go back and she wouldn't feel like he was hovering. "Hey stop for a second," he said before she could close the door. He held up her bag so she could see it, sort of a peace offering. "I have your bag. Lemme get the water started for you." He knew it would hurt her to move too much and if there was anything he could do to help it then he would.

Eve stepped aside and allowed him in the bathroom. She let him open her bag and get her things ready for a shower. She watched as he placed them in the nicely sized shower which, lucky for her, had a bench around it so she could sit. She unclenched her jaw and moved it around to ease the tension. Her anger had greatly dissipated since coming upstairs. "Could you grab my iPod and the speakers?" she asked in a meek voice.

John looked back at her over his shoulder. He was testing the water to make sure it wasn't too hot. "Of course." He stood up straight and went to the door being careful not to touch her. He was only stopped by her hand on his arm.

"Hey, Uncle Casey?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry. I don't want to be mean but I can't help it."

John could sympathize with the feeling. After being tortured and then expected to act like it didn't happen to those around you, it could get hard to keep your emotions in check. "I know." He walked towards the room Trisha stayed in to look for Eve's iPod. They were easily located on the top of the dresser. He picked them up and was figuring out how to turn it on while making his way back to the bathroom. As soon as he got it started, he was standing in front of the door. He knocked on it loudly three times before opening the door a crack. "Eve. Am I okay to put these on the counter?"

Eve was resting on the bench in the shower with the spray hitting directly at her stomach. She had turned the shower head to a more gentle spray so she could handle it and she turned down the heat. Too much hot water didn't feel good. It felt like showering with a sunburn. Her eyes were closed as she responded, "Yep. I'm already in the shower."

"Okay." He pushed the door the rest of the way open and set the equipment down next to the sink. "Call if you need anything," he said as he closed the door. When he got back downstairs, General Beckman was still on the line and Trisha still sat on the couch. Neither were talking.

As Beckman saw Casey enter the room, her professional demeanor returned. "Major Casey. Walker and the asset have been made aware of you unavailability for now. Arrangements have been made for the security of the asset."

"Yes, Ma'am."

"I sent you the new address. Ensure Walker is made prepared with the proper equipment."

"Yes Ma'am."

"Good," she said and then turned her attention to Trisha. "I would very much like to finish our conversation however, I have a meeting with the Department of Defense. Can I reach you later?"

Trisha took in a breath, considering what would happen if she said no. Eve most certainly would not be happy.' _Dammit._' "Yes." She left the Ma'am off since she was no longer her subordinate. '_I don't remember her being so cold when I was an asset.'_

"Good." The TV turned off, leaving John and Trisha alone.

"Was she always like that when I was an asset?"

Casey looked down at his phone for the address. Turns out that Walker and Bartowski are moving in next door. That will make life simpler. "No. You were the asset that changed her though."

*********************

Sarah woke up about ten o'clock in the morning. She was grateful to be able to sleep in. Waking up was always the worst part of the morning but once she got up, she was good to go. Last night (or this morning, but probably both) had been one of the greatest times of Sarah's life. Things were looking up from yesterday morning that was for sure. She rolled over to see if Chuck was awake yet. His eyes were still shut. He took in a deep, relaxing breath and Sarah couldn't help but smile. Then, as if knowing he was being watched, the corner of Chuck's mouth rose like he was trying to keep the illusion that he was still asleep. She started to think he was going to wake up but instead he started humming some song that Sarah was unfamiliar with, which didn't surprise her in the least, but it sounded pretty. Casey said that Chuck sometimes talked in his sleep but he'd never done it when she was there. Sarah laid silently as she listened to Chuck hum. Her eyes drifted shut and she found herself lulling off to sleep again. Suddenly there was a sharp intake of breath and Chuck jerked. Sarah was immediately on guard. "Chuck?" she whispered, looking around the room, her hand on the knife under her pillow. Noticing nothing amiss, Sarah released the knife from her hand and gently reached out to shake Chuck's shoulder. "Chuck?" His only response was a groan of protest and then his eyes fluttered open, squinting from the sunlight streaming through the window. He was stuck between the state of sleep and awake. "Are you alright, Chuck?"

"What?" Chuck asked confused and then remembering his legs jerking said, "Oh, sorry about that. I was dreaming that I was falling."

Sarah looked at the clock. It read eleven oh seven. '_What?! It was merely ten minutes ago I was listening to him hum, wasn't it?''_ Gathering her bearings she looked at Chuck, realization drawing on her face, "Oh no! Chuck me! We're going to be late." Sarah sprung up from the bed and began looking for her jeans from last night. In typical fashion, she went to bed in boy shorts and a t-shirt so all she really had to do was put her pants on and throw her hair into a ponytail and she'd be ready to go. "Move it, Chuck. We are supposed to be having lunch with your sister in fifteen minutes and it takes twice that to get there."

Chuck hopped off the bed and to his closet. Luckily his jeans weren't used often since most of his time was spent in his NerdHerder uniform but unfortunately his closet had other ideas and his jeans weren't there. He found a pair of camouflage shorts and put them on instead. At least his shirt was white so Sarah couldn't dock him points for a fashion sense. He put on his Stanford baseball cap to cover his messy hair and slipped on flip flops. They were out the door in less than three minutes.

Sarah sped her Porsche down the highway, dodging "slow" drivers. "Slow" because they were following the law and going the speed limit . . . ish. It was California after all. Chuck had a death grip on the handle by the door. _'Now I know why they call these 'Oh, shit' handles,_' he thought as he braced himself for the final turn into the parking lot. Sarah got them there in record time and they managed to be only five minutes late. Sarah looked over to Chuck and smiled, "Well, that wasn't so bad."

"The timing or the driving? Because I am officially asking for permanent barf bags in your vehicles."

Sarah just rolled her eyes. "You big baby."

"Me?" Chuck said incredulously, keeping his tone light and joking, "I beg your pardon, Miss. I was twelve just last night. How is possible for me to regress so much in such a small amount of time with you? I am shocked and dismayed."

They both stepped out of the car and were looking over the roof of the car at each other. Sarah closed her door and said, "Alright so you're a baby and a half."

Chuck shut his door and laughed,walking around to the front. "Cause that half makes it so much better!"

Sarah waited for him to meet her at the back of the car so they could walk next to each other into the hospital. "You thought it did last night."

"Yeah, well, that's when it was twelve. A baby and a half doesn't make sense."

"In following your logic, sure it does."

"No it doesn't. There is no such thing as half a baby." As they came to the main cross street, Chuck noticed an old lady trying to make her way across the parking lot on the other side. He watched as she would timidly take two steps out, only to turn around and go back to the curb. Fear laced the woman's eyes as she attempted a couple more times to make it as Sarah and Chuck were in the middle. The parking lot was considerably more busy than normal and no one was stopping long enough to allow her to cross, nor where they patient enough to let her try. Once Chuck and Sarah made it to the door, Chuck looked over to Sarah and dropped their conversation, "I'll be right back." He jogged off towards the lady leaving Sarah with an inquisitive look on her face.

Chuck had been too tall for Sarah to see the old lady trying to cross the road. She watched Chuck hunker down to the lady's level as he was significantly taller than she was. She saw him introduce himself with a friendly smile. They exchanged a few pleasantries and Chuck held out his hand for her. The old woman smiled at his thoughtfulness and placed her tiny, frail hand in his offered one. He had her strongly gripped in his left hand and gently rested his right on her back. Slowly they made their way across, laughing and carrying on a conversation as if they had done it daily. He listened intently to the woman speak, as if what she were saying was the most important thing he'd heard all day. Once they finally got across, the woman pulled Chuck down to her and gave him a big kiss on his cheek. Chuck smiled and held his hand to his cheek and said his goodbye, jogging back over to Sarah who was patiently awaiting his return.

"Sorry about that," Chuck smiled sheepishly at her, hoping she wasn't upset. Jill never liked it when he'd stop a discussion to do something like that. The first time she thought it was cute but then after that she got annoyed but would pretend that she wasn't. It wasn't as though they couldn't pick up where they left off. Besides, you should always have the time to lend a helping hand.

"Sorry?" Sarah was shocked that he would apologize, "You don't have to be sorry for being nice, Chuck. That was sweetest and probably the most heroic thing I've seen you do and I've seen you do lots of heroic things. I take back what I said last night."

"What's that?"

"If you were one in a billion, it would mean there are 6 to 7 people like you on this planet and it's simply not possible. There is only one Chuck Bartowski."

The compliment made Chuck's face turn a deep shade of red and Sarah chuckled. A gust of wind caused Sarah to shiver at the sudden cold. Instantly aware, Chuck rubbed his hands up and down her arms to help warm her up and joked his way to a different subject, "I'd offer you my shirt but we both know how well that went last time. Plus I don't think I'd be allowed inside." Sarah laughed heartily. They turned to the door and Chuck put one arm around her shoulder and Sarah burrowed herself into his body heat. Maybe it was because of the wind or maybe it was because of the man. Either way, at this moment, she was exactly where she wanted to be.

********

Georgina was sitting behind the nurses station at the front lobby of the ER. She was shuffling through all the patient files and trying to make sense of the chaos. She sighed and frustratingly slammed some down on the desk. "Seriously, people. There is a method to organizing these files," she said, more to herself than anyone else.

Denise let out a small laugh, "Honey you can try as much as you'd like, but they ain't never gonna listen to ya. You want something done right you better do it yourself." She finished the last part to her notes and looked over to Georgina. "I tried when I first started to make them listen and that was fifteen years ago." Denise nodded her head to the left and was looking past Georgina.

"Well they could at least try. It will make this process more efficient." Realizing she wasn't being payed attention to any longer she said, "What are you looking at?" as she turned facing the door. Both women saw a man helping an old lady across the street.

"That woman has been trying to cross that road for twenty minutes," Janice said as she stood in front of the desk. "Look at that fine lookin' man help her. He is just too cute."

"MmmHmm. They don't make them like that anymore," Denise said.

Kara saw the three women staring out the window as she put records down on the desk to be filed away later. "Whatcha guys lookin' at?" Then she saw Dr. Bartowski's brother helping a lady cross the road. "Awe, good ol' Chuckles."

"You know him?" Janice asked.

"Yeah. He's Dr. Bartowski's brother. I've met him a few times."

"Why wouldn't you get on that if you had the chance?" Georgina asked.

Kara blushed, "He's awkward and nerdy. He's not my type." _'Although, he is a lot more appealing now, that's for sure.''_

Ellie walked to the front desk of the ER. It's a good thing Chuck and Sarah are running late as usual. She had a difficult time explaining to a new orderly what she wanted done with blood samples she had taken. Georgina was sitting behind the desk with three other nurses staring out the front doors. They all had swooning looks on their faces. When she heard the tail end of the conversation mention her brother, she asked, "What about my brother?" Ellie looked out the front door and saw what they were swooning at. It was Chuck being Chuck and Sarah stood there with a smile of admiration as she watched. "Aww, how sweet is he!"

"You raised that boy right," Janice said.

Ellie smiled. "I can only take so much credit." While no one knew the specifics of Ellie's childhood, some of it had gotten around in the hospital gossip because of her pending nuptials to Devon. While the four other girls watched her brother be his generous self, Ellie indulged in Sarah watching. She could just barely see the side of Sarah's face but she could see enough to tell that Sarah was in awe of Chuck. Her eyes held a look of wonderment and the corner of her mouth was twitched slightly north of it's usual resting place. It was no secret what Ellie thought their feelings were for each other. She didn't understand what they found so complicated about their relationship. Chuck made his way to Sarah and broke Ellie out of her trance. "Don't forget to clean up your drool before they get in here. That blond out there is his girlfriend and I don't think she'd like it too much if she caught you staring," she said teasingly as she turned to put the file away. She walked around to the front and met them at the door. "Hey, Baby Brother."

Chuck groaned and Sarah laughed. "Oh, no. Not you too!" he cried.

Ellie face expressed confusion at Chuck response, "I'm missing something here . . ."

Sarah explained while she gave Ellie a hug, "It's nothing. I just called him a big baby earlier."

Ellie laughed, "I see. What was he complaining about?"

"Hey-" Chuck started indignantly before being interrupted by Sarah.

"My driving."

"That's because you drove like a maniac from Gone in 60 Seconds. I value my life, thank you. I don't need to die in an accident." _'There are plenty of other things trying to kill me . . .''_

Sarah looked at Chuck, and with a very serious tone replied, "I would never let anything hurt you, Chuck."

Ellie watched a silent conversation pass between the two, like there was a deeper meaning to Sarah's statement that Ellie was unaware of. Those seemed to happen a lot. It was nice to know that Sarah was so protective of Chuck though. It made her worry less about him. She said, "Aww, you guys are just too cute!"

Chuck broke off eye contact with Sarah and smiled at his sister, "Thanks sis." If only Ellie knew the half of it. He reached out and gave his sister a hug, "Sorry we're late . . . again." He always felt so terrible letting her down, missing important things, always lying, always being late. Even the little things that Ellie never got mad at are starting to jive him.

"Yeah," Sarah echoed his sentiment. "We woke up kind of late."

"It's okay," Ellie said. "We have a new orderly that I was having difficulties with anyway. I walked up just in time to see you with a four, scratch that, five woman team of oglers."

"What?" Chuck asked confused and a little self conscious. "Why?"

Ellie laughed at him. It was so like her brother to think nothing of helping others. He had a lot of integrity. "Never mind. Let's go eat, Mr. Charming."

As they walked past the front counter towards the cafeteria, Chuck saw the four women who were looking at him. They were huddled together and speaking in hushed tones but immediately stopped upon seeing the topic of conversation so near. _'Didn't they know, stopping is a huge indicator of what you were talking about?'_ He recognized all of them but only knew Kara by name. "Hey Kara," he said with cheer. "Ladies," he said with a slight bow addressing the other three. As he turned to catch up the few paces to Sarah and Ellie, Chuck grabbed Sarah's hand and gave it a squeeze. She smiled briefly over to him but kept her attention on Ellie going into the final wedding details.

Behind them there was a collective sigh amongst the women. Sarah glanced back curiously at them before gripping Chuck's hand tighter. Once they thought the couple was out of ear shot, Denise said, "Honey, if I was twenty years younger, that boy wouldn't know what hit him."

Janice laughed, "As if you would have a chance. His girlfriend must be some kind of super model. You can tell she just rolled out of bed but she's garnered the attention of every male that has come into the room . . ." Sarah didn't hear much after that but she smiled knowing they knew where Chuck stood. She knew he would never cheat on her, even if their relationship was a cover. That's why he broke up with her before pursuing another girl. He was a very untainted, untarnished individual and Sarah would do everything in her power to make sure he stayed that way.

Devon was already at a table in the cafeteria waiting for the three of them to arrive. He gave them an unusually large smile. "Hey guys. Nice of you to show up," he joked, "The food was starting to get cold."

"Sorry," Ellie said giving Devon a peck on the lips, "Thanks for getting the food."

The meal went smoothly. Sarah and Chuck had been expecting more franticness from Ellie but it seemed the only thing she had left to hash out was who would be picking up people from the airport and her dress from the cleaners and the tuxes from the store. Sarah agreed to pick up the dress and take it to the hotel so Devon wouldn't be tempted to peek and Chuck said he'd get the tuxes. The wedding was in two weeks and no one was flying in for at least another ten days so they weren't too concerned right now. Once all that was finished, Ellie turned to Devon, "Hey, did John bring over the oxygen tank and EKG machine this morning?"

"Yeah. He said everything was fine and I didn't need to go over this morning. I came in early for lunch so I could submit the findings to the cardiologist in charge. Everything is taken care of."

A concerned look passed between Chuck and Sarah. _'What is going on with Casey?''_ they thought.

_'Shouldn't I be aware if something is wrong with him? I know General Beckman said it was personal but what if something is seriously wrong? I don't want to get a new partner. Casey is my exception to the NSA,_' Sarah thought.

_'Is Casey really in that much trouble? Why wouldn't they just reassign him? Why put the mission hold?_' Chuck rattled off question after question. He wanted to talk to Casey. Sarah noticed Chuck starting to get ideas. She knew he would just be running into a brick wall if he tried to. While Ellie and Devon had their own side conversation, Sarah turned to Chuck and quietly said, "No."

"What?"

"I know that look, Chuck. You are not going to talk to Casey about this. We don't know anything for sure yet. General Beckman would tell us something better besides 'it's personal' if there was something extremely pressing. So no talking to Casey and no talking to Beckman. Let's see how this plays out. Maybe he will come to us."

Chuck nodded sarcastically, "Yeah that'll happen when hell freezes over, or pigs fly or Jeff acts like a normal human being."

"Chuck, please for once just do as I say," Sarah warned, "Promise me you won't talk to Casey or Beckman."

Chuck looked at Sarah pleading with him. His resolve crumbled as he said, "Alright. I promise." He never could deny her anything.

Sarah let out a breath of relief. He would never go back on a promise. "Thank you."

Ellie broke them from their moment when she said, "Hey, do you guys think you could put off moving for a little bit? I think Sarah and I should look at the space to decide about decorating and stuff."

"Shouldn't I get a say? I will be living there?"

"Do you not trust me?" Sarah joked. "Or your sister for that matter."

"No, no. It's not that. It's just, I thought it would be something fun for us to do together. I mean, its going to be _our_ home. I want it to be what we both like." Chuck realized what he said, "That's not what I meant. I-I didn't mean th-that you didn't know what I would like-"

Sarah smiled at his stuttering, "It's okay, Chuck. I know what you meant." She liked how he said our home. She's never had a home before. Sure, she's had places that she's lived in for an extended period of time but they weren't home to her. There was no sentimental value or attachment to them. "How bout this, Chuck? Why don't Ellie and I narrow down a few options for colors and you and I can make the final decision? And I think we should leave the kitchen supplies to Ellie anyway. She knows what we would need best. But that would leave all the furniture and stuff to us and Ellie could offer her assistance with that."

"That would work."

"Okay. And the place has four bedrooms anyway. One of them can be for my exercise equipment, another could be for all your gaming systems and computer stuff, you could even put your Tron poster up, then we'd have a guest room . . . and our room." The last part she said quietly. It wasn't that she didn't want to share a room with him, it's just that it isn't a good idea. Granted she slept better with him there and it would make up for a lack of video surveillance but boundaries were needed between them. They definitely needed to set up some ground rules. Mistakes will get her reassigned and she doesn't want that.

"You're going to let him keep Tron?" Ellie groaned.

"So you guys got the Jenson's place?" Devon asked. "That's awesome!"

"It's pretty exciting," Sarah said. "Chuck really likes that poster, Ellie. I couldn't ask him to give it away." Chuck smiled at Sarah. He was so happy to know that he didn't need to get rid of one of his most prized possessions.

Ellie furrowed her brow. _'How would they have time to sign the lease if they just found out about the place last night?' _she thought. "I thought you guys over slept."

Chuck looked at Sarah. Everything had been worked out last night with Beckman and the CIA but Ellie didn't know that. "Oh, well, we did. We ended up staying up until 6 this morning when the office opened and went over there first thing." The truth was that they fell asleep closer to five, just shortly after Ellie left for work.

"Right," Sarah agreed. "That's what we did. We were too excited to sleep so we just stayed up until it was official and then went to sleep." Sarah faltered a little inside. '_He is getting way too good at the lying thing. He didn't even stumble over his words.''_

"Was that what you guys were doing?" Ellie asked.

"What do you mean?"

"This morning, when I came downstairs for breakfast before leaving for work there was two plates and cups left out on the table. I couldn't believe you guys left them out. I was pretty mad but when I went to knock on your door, you guys we laughing and I couldn't bring myself to interrupt. How can you guys manage to stay up so late?"

"Practice?" Chuck said it more as a question than an explanation. It was more due to missions and LAN parties than anything else. "I was showing her how to play tennis on the Wii. We really didn't mean to leave them out. We were going to get another sandwich but we were sidetracked."

"It's okay. Just don't let it happen again, alright? I am not a maid."

"Yes, Ma'am," they said in unison.

Ellie, satisfied with their response, changed the subject, "So this place should be big enough to get your things out of storage, right?"

"You have stuff in storage?" Sarah asked.

Chuck shifted nervously. The stuff he had in storage he'd rather have burned but Ellie wouldn't let him. They were pieces to his past, things that he could do that he would prefer be forgotten. "Some things but I haven't gone through it in a while. I don't want any of it," he said slightly harsh.

"Chuck, there are some things in there I think you should keep. Maybe your feelings towards them have changed. Why don't you go through it and make sure before writing it all off?" Ellie said.

"I don't want to, Ellie. Its full of bad memories."

"Well, I'd like to get some things, like our home videos maybe and mom's stuff."

Chuck's expression softens. "That's right. I did let you put those there. Why don't you just do it?"

"Because we always said we'd do it together, Chuck," Ellie said softly.

"Hey," Devon boomed, louder than he intended, "What if Sarah and I went with you guys? You know, emotional support." He turned and addressed Sarah, "Not to volunteer you for anything you don't want to do."

"No. I wouldn't mind. If that's okay with you . . ." Sarah said trailing off. "You know, emotional support or whatever." _Not that I am capable of that._

Chuck was taken aback. "Really? You'd want to?" He wasn't sure if she wanted to know more about his past than she already did. Ellie would definitely let out some stories that he wasn't certain he wanted her to know. Well, he wanted her to know but he didn't want to be too vulnerable to her. Jill had kind of razzed him for some of it. He needed to get the storage garage when he left for Stanford because Ellie had gotten a new apartment closer to work and it didn't have room for some of his things, nor did he want to have his sister feel like he was using her space. He never intended to stay as long as he did after Stanford. He thought he'd get his own place and they'd take care of it then but one month turned into one year turned into five and it was left forgotten. Maybe not entirely forgotten. He was still paying the monthly rent to the place.

"Of course," Sarah said bumping him with her shoulder. "But only if you think it'd help." Sarah and Chuck were having another one of their silent conversations. She could see him rolling the idea around in his head. He definitely wasn't sure if he wanted her to go. He was calculating, deciding if she was telling the truth, wondering if he wanted her to know. This would really let her in on practically every secret he's kept regarding his family.

What felt like minutes was merely seconds before he answered softly, "Yeah, I think it'd help."

"Awesome! So Ellie and I have Wednesday off together. Would you wanna go then? We have a few last minute wedding things to do in the morning."

"I'll double check my schedule but Wednesday should work," Sarah said. She was a little hesitant since Chuck was so against it at first. Maybe he needed more time before going there. She really wanted to tell him to just suck it up. She didn't understand what the big deal was. It's just stuff.

"Well I've got to get back to work." Ellie stood up from the table taking her tray with the trash on it.

Chuck also stood and took the trays with his and Sarah's trash and said, "I'll walk with you."

Devon and Sarah watched as the siblings walked together. They had an easy camaraderie between each other that was a subject of envy for others. It must have come from going through so much together. Turning her attention back to the man across from her, Sarah asked, "Can I ask you a question, Devon?"

"Sure."

"Why is the storage such a big deal? I mean, it's just stuff." Sarah was baffled. Things came and went so she never thought much about possessions except maybe her car and violin from High School but they were replaceable. Sure she'd be furious if she lost the particular ones she had now but she won't loose any sleep over them if they were to be lost.

"I don't really know to be honest. I know its stuff from when they were growing up and all that. I don't know about Chuck, but Ellie is pretty tight lipped on that time." Devon shook his head, "Haven't you ever had something sentimental?Something that, if you lost it, it was more than just replaceable?"

Sarah shook her head, "Not really but as stupid as this sounds, do you remember that alarm clock Chuck got me our first Christmas together?" As Devon nodded, she continued, "Well, I've resisted throwing it against the wall because he gave it to me. Does that mean it holds sentimental value?"

Devon was surprised she would ask such a question. It's not that he thought it was stupid, but it does offer some insight to why Sarah is the way she is. "You really don't know the answer to that question?" When Sarah sadly dropped her eyes to the table, Devon put his hand over hers. "That's okay, Sarah. But if it's because Chuck gave it to you that you aren't breaking it, then it definitely has sentimental value. Is that the first thing you've never wanted to loose?"

Sarah shrugged, "I moved around a lot when I was younger so I never stayed anywhere long enough to get an attachment to places and things got lost or left behind all the time. There was no sense in being sad about it."

"I see," Devon said nodding. He learned a lot about Sarah in this conversation. Not wanting to push his luck, he went back to their original topic, "I've never been to the storage garage but I've always wanted to go. I want to know what she went through, you know? I can assume it was bad but I don't really know how bad. I mean, it couldn't have been easy without parents, but how did they keep out of foster care and stuff like that? I guess I don't really have to know what happened, but I want to. But knowing or not I still want to marry her. That won't change."

_'It's not exactly a walk in the park with parents either,'_ Sarah thought as she replied, "You guys have a special bond."

"Well, you and Chuckster do too."

"Ours is . . . complicated," Sarah said. They should look into finding a synonym to that word. Or maybe they should put a patent on the phrase. Then Chuck wouldn't have to work at the Buy More and she wouldn't have to work at the Orange Orange.

Devon was just about to ask Sarah what they mean when they say 'It's complicated' but Chuck chose that moment to barge in on the pair. "Hey, Devon. Ellie wants you to say bye to her before you leave. She thought you might want to stay and chat for a bit since you and Sarah were talking but she had to get back for rounds." Chuck noticed Sarah seemed a bit sad. _'What were they talking about_?'

"Okay, I'll find her on my way out. What do you guys have planned for the rest of the day?"

"I don't know," Chuck said, "Would you be interested in going paintballing, Miss Walker, or did you have something else planned?"

Sarah's face brightened. "I've never been paintballing before. It sounds like fun." _'Sweet! A way to shoot people without actually killing them. This should be fun. We'll have to get Casey to try it at some point.' _She and Chuck gave each other a high five.

"Alright. You guys have an awesome day. See you at dinner tonight. I'm going to find my girl." Devon walked away leaving Chuck and Sarah to their own vices.

"Everything okay?" Chuck asked.

Sarah sighed, "Yeah, just learning stuff about the real world." Sarah didn't want him to push it any further than that so she said, "Ready to get your butt whipped in paintball?"

"Oh, it is so on! I'm a legend."

"But now your up against me. I was trained to be the best and I always strive for excellence."

Chuck rubbed his hands together. "This should be fun!"


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Hey everyone! Thanks again for all your reviews. They really do help to motivate a story to keep progressing. I'm happy you are all enjoying this as much as I am. It's going a lot better than I had ever anticipated that it would. Who is stoked about Chuck getting a season three? My mind has been set to ease and I am so happy!

This chapter is kind of graphic from Eve's perspective in looking over her bodily trauma from treatment. I looked up pictures and info online to see how radiation effects the skin and from what I saw, it was far from pretty. In reality, I can only imagine how much it would hurt. My only personal experience with cancer was when my grandma had lung cancer but that was a long time ago and they kept a lot of things hidden from us kids. I do remember going with her to the mayo clinic to get her treatment for chemo and radiation but we lived in separate states so I wasn't around it all the time to really see what happened.

I'm not too sure how I feel about the paint ball part. I'm pretty sure it'll disappoint, but I'll cross my fingers for not =) Action is not my strong suit apparently. I really tried but I'm not sure it worked. That's why it took so long for an update. Sorry about that.

Again, this is speculation on my part for medical things as I am not a doctor.

Chapter Five

Eve stayed sitting in the shower for almost an hour before moving to start washing her body. She did already wash her hair but since it was her rule to allow herself only five minutes a day to cry over her predicament, whether it be in pain or sorrow, she had to prepare herself. Today she had no medication to help ease her pain. She just had to do it and get it over with. Her skin was far too sensitive to wash every day and she was almost to the point of needing sponge baths from another person. She would hold out on that as long as humanly possible. For her, that was probably one of the most degrading things of the whole experience.

Eve shut her eyes tightly. It took time for her to mentally prepare herself to even look down at her body. She'd wash with her eyes closed if she could but she was worried about popping the blisters and touching the areas of dead skin too much. Once the Chemotherapy had stopped working, her Doctors in Seattle started giving her more intense rounds of radiation and right where the markers on her skin were for the radiation had turned black as the multiple layers had been killed by the treatment. It was kind of like looking at frostbite. Around the blackened cores were rings of red that faded out to pink with varying sizes of blisters in between. Luckily neither the blisters or the black areas were too big yet and that's what kept her from sponge baths. Her feet and hands were slightly swollen and it hurt a little to bend the knuckles but not unmanageable. Those initial first steps were always the worst. It was like if you had been standing all day the day before and then when you woke up the next morning, your feet still ached.

With her eyes still closed, Eve reached out and put her wash cloth underneath the spray of the shower head. Leaving it drenched with water, she took several deep breaths and then opened her eyes. She lightly dabbed the cloth across her skin, the coolness of the water was both soothing and hurtful. Her eyes welled with tears as she fought to keep her arms moving over her body and winced with every touch to the skin. She started on her chest and legs before moving to her arms. Unable to take anymore she threw the rag disdainfully against the shower wall. Her tears beginning to fall, Eve scooted herself around the bench to the right corner of the shower. Easing herself to a standing position, she pushed the shower head to the left corner to keep herself out of the spray and turned the water to a hotter temperature allowing the shower to steam up like a sauna. She couldn't handle the warmer temperature for long but it helped relieve the tension from her tired muscles and joints. She used the wall as a guide while she slumped back to the bench. Pulling her knees to her chest as close as she could, she finished her five minutes of tears.

*********

Casey was patiently waiting for Eve to be ready to go. He made himself and Trisha a sandwich and ate it while revising reports from his last mission. Once he got these submitted he would be officially on leave for the next who knows how long. While what he is doing instead is important, he is going to miss his team a little. The past couple missions have gone well for them. Even with the 49B and Orion, they've delivered important information needed to stop Fulcrum. He hoped that this time away wouldn't cause them to have any back peddling.

Agent Forrest had been a huge eye opener for Casey about Walker's aptitude as a partner. Sure, he liked having her as a partner before, even if he would only admit it under the effects of a truth serum before he was able to completely control his words or when her experience with the asset made her more knowledgeable than him in front of his superior officer. He wasn't going to say anything quite to the extent that he did except Chuck spoke up which put him on the spot. He would have privately had a few words with the General regarding Walker's position as his partner. The only partner he would ever say was better than she was would have been David. Still she was a very, very close second. Agent Forrest and he would have been too alike to be productive. They would have butted heads constantly if they had to work together over a prolonged period of time. He and Walker complemented each other greatly in the field and in reference to the asset. That's basically how he would have approached it with Beckman. He was glad, for all of their sakes, that things hadn't gone differently with Agent Forrest as they almost did. But even if Walker had been reassigned, he had no doubt that she may have gone on one more mission before realizing she would never be as effective as she once was in the field and she would resign from the CIA entirely.

He knew Walker was soft for the asset but he couldn't really blame her for becoming compromised. He would challenge any agent not to get caught up in the enigma that was Chuck Bartowski and co. Look at what he did with the man in the safe that was about to kill him only moments before. Hell, even he would be lying if he said he wouldn't be upset to see the kid put in a bunker or worse. That didn't mean he was so compromised that if the order was given, he wouldn't follow through with it, however begrudgingly. But if it were to be given and Chuck was to be 'bunkerized', as Chuck so tastefully put it, Casey would visit.

Chuck was the type of person that needed emotion in order to operate at his full capacity and he was a damn good man. Sarah couldn't have picked a better person to be her 'one.' Not in the way normal people say 'the one' but every agent has that one mission that turns them from the spy life. For David, it had been Trisha. Granted it's not always a romantic involvement. Sometimes it was a child or family member. Sometimes it was a mission that was just too traumatizing because of the events that took place. Sometimes it was age. It could be any number of things.

He should use this as his one. That would be the smart thing to do. Trisha was right that he should probably resign, at least from fieldwork, after this mission. He didn't heal as quickly as he once did, it was harder to have all nighters listening to the surveillance, and he definitely wasn't as agile as he used to be. Settling down wouldn't necessarily be all that bad but he was afraid that he would always have that predatorial itch.

"Mom?" Eve asked standing at the top of the stairs. "Can you help me?"

Casey looked up at his niece. Her voice sounded so strained. She looked more like a scared child than a twenty-four year old woman. Her eye glistened with unshed tears and her shoulders hunched forward in pain. Her short blond hair was kept out of her face by a bandanna and she wore a loose fitting white t-shirt with green colored khakis. Trisha had been reading her book once again but looked up when she heard her daughters voice sounding so different than before. Forgetting about looking at the page number, she dropped the book to the table. She stood up from her seated position and walked towards Eve. "Of course, Baby," she said, her motherly nature easliy taking over. "What do you need?"

"Um," Eve swallowed a lump in her throat and took a breath, "do you think when the doctor said that I couldn't take my medicine he meant I couldn't use the burn cream for the radiation too?"

Trisha looked at her daughter with concern. Eve looked so hopeful that she would be able to use it. It helped to keep her skin from getting dry so it wouldn't crack and bleed. She kept her tone calming as she answered, "I don't know, Baby. Why don't I call the hospital and find out for you? Go rest yourself in the bedroom and I'll be right up, okay?"

Eve just nodded and turned for the spare room. She achingly crossed the few steps to the thresh hold and paused against the door frame. _'I will not break my rule, I will not break my rule, I will not break my rule,'_ she chanted to herself. Steeling herself for more pain, Eve walked the last few paces to the bed and turned around. Gently lowering herself to sitting position and then onto her back with her legs still hanging off the bed, she thought, _'Some of this has got to be withdrawals or something. There is no way I should hurt this much.' _She took a few deep breaths and forced herself to relax into the bed. Laying down helped take the tension off her joints. Her skin still burned but it wasn't a compounded feeling of pain so it was more tolerable.

Trisha waited until her daughter was out of eye sight before turning away. She rummaged through her briefcase left by the door last night for the paperwork regarding Eve's treatment and the Doctor. She located the number in the file and dialed it on her cell. Grabbing the rest of the documents, she went to Casey and put them down in front of him. "John, will you look through these and tell me if you see anything about the cream? I don't know how long it will take to get through to-" she stopped and turned her attention back to the phone conversation, "Hello? Yes, I'd li . . . hello? . . . I need to speak with Dr. Williams please." She listened to the receptionist in annoyance for quite a while before saying, "Yes, Dr. Williams. Thank you." Afterwards she muttered, "God, it's like every one of them has been hit with a stupid stick." She looked over to John who had moved his file out of the way and began looking through the one she gave him. He looked like he was trying to suppress a smile. "She doesn't think he is in right now but she will check. Next thing you know, I'm gonna be on hold for fifteen minutes because they're too damn busy talking about some bozo who walked an old lady across the street." She wedged the phone against her shoulder and ear as she took one of the files from Casey to look through, anticipating that it might just be easier to find it at this point, "Not that that isn't sweet but, seriously, if you surround yourself with the right people, it happens all the time."

Casey let out a half grunt half chuckle. Trisha could go from her version of harsh one moment and then flip to the other side so quickly. "We can just ask Devon. He might know. Ellie left early this morning."

"Well, he's more qualified to understand all this medical garbage than we are. I've been getting better at it but its so frustrating."

"Do you want me to ask?"

"No," she said distractedly, "Not yet. We'll see if Dr. Williams is available or if we can find it first. It'd be rude to ask him things just because he is your neighbor that happens to be a doctor."

Casey was befuddled looking through all these papers. Trisha had the file organized in sections kept together by paper clips. The file he had was all the research she could find on the treatment. She must be looking through the one with the doctor's notes regarding Eve's previous medications. All of these records used words and acronyms that Casey had no idea the meaning of. He was completely lost. He couldn't find anything that mentioned anything about a cream. Ten minutes had passed since Trisha spoke into the phone and Casey was getting angry.

Trisha could see his anger surfacing and diffused the situation, "I told you it might be a long wait. Why don't you talk to Eve about what books and movies she wants to get? I don't think it would be good for her to go out today."

Casey grunted and dropped the file on the table, happy to have an out. He stomped out of the room and up the stairs. He looked through the doorway and found Eve lying on her back with her legs dangling off the bed. He softly walked into the room and mimicked her posture. "What's up, Newt?"

Eve smiled. He started calling her Newt after she forced him to watch Aliens with her. He said it was because she looked like the little girl in the movie. "Oh, you know. The usual. Sky, sun, that sort of thing." When he grunted she laughed, "Lighten up, Uncle Casey. Your so serious all the time."

"You joke enough for the both of us."

"Only because I have to," she turned her head towards him when he grunted again, "And maybe because I like to. But I'll never tell."

John smiled, "So, Newt. You still up for going out or do you want me to make a list of things to get?" He was still going to give her the option of going with him even if Trisha thought against it. Eve said it herself, she was old enough to make her own choices.

Eve knew that her mother most likely had told him to make a list. It would be just like her to try to dissuade Eve from going out and it would be just like Uncle Casey to sort of go with her request. "Mom would be so mad at you if she heard you asking me," she said lightly, "I think you have a death wish."

Casey laughed, "Nah, I could take her."

Eve hummed funnily as he said this, "Hmm sure, sure. And then when she killed you, Dad would be on you like white on rice when you got to heaven. You'd be like Barbosa and Jack Sparrow, locked in an immortal fight to the death that would never come."

"Unh, has anyone ever told you you watch too many movies?"

"Well, what else am I to do with my time?" Casey didn't have a good answer that wouldn't make the conversation go south. When he didn't say anything, Eve continued, "I, however, see that it would probably be in my best interest if I stayed here. But do you think you could take mom with you? I wouldn't mind some alone time."

"Well, I don't know about that. One of us should probably stay here just in case but I can tell her to stay out of your way."

"Oh, ya? And when has she ever followed orders you've given?"

"It might be different when it comes to you."

"Right, like when it came to Dad?" Eve paused. "Do you ever find it interesting, the similarities between your mission now and the one with Mom and Dad?"

"What do you mean?" Casey and Eve had a very strong bond and trust. She knew practically everything about why he was here. She knew about the missions and his thoughts on the asset and his partner. He trusted her to keep her mouth shut. She has never betrayed him so each time he would get a little more detailed. It helped to keep him grounded and made it so he could function better as an agent. It also kept him from having to be forced to talk to a company shrink.

"I mean you're working with the best partner you've had since Dad and another unassuming asset. Mom never meant to get dragged into the job, neither did Chuck. Dad was your favorite partner and Sarah is a close second. They were both long assignments with huge repercussions for failure. It's like this is fate's way of giving you a second chance to get out."

"You have to believe in fate for that to be true, which I don't. But I will tell you one thing, though. I think I will retire after this mission. At least from fieldwork that is." Once Casey voiced it to someone, he felt better about the decision. Before it was a fleeting thought but now it sounded right.

"Really?" Eve said.

He couldn't tell how she meant it. She said it so neutrally. David used to do that sometimes and it really pissed him off. "Just don't go telling the cavalry."

Eve chuckled, "Does that seriously need to be mentioned in our conversations? I mean, really, Uncle Casey. I know by now not to say anything, especially about that. Mom and Grams would have a hay-day"

"No, I guess it doesn't but I still like to reiterate it."

"I know. I just like giving you a hard time. Because I can and I want to." They laid in silence for a while, thinking. Uncle Casey's presence always made her feel better and try to toughen up a bit. He didn't like crying but he wasn't completely opposed to it if the situation warranted it, like when Dad had died. He was pretty gruff but you always know where you stand with him . . . maybe. He could be difficult but most intelligent people could figure it out. "So about that list . . ."

Casey grunted, "Huh, shoulda known I wasn't going to get out of it. Alright, what do you want, Newt?"

"Now that you mention it, Aliens would be a great one to get. I haven't seen it in a while," Eve said. She thought a little more before continuing, "I don't know. I really wanted to look at what they had. I think you should know me well enough be now to know what I'd like though. Plus, I'm always open to new stuff. I'll even watch a Ronald Regan film with you."

"Quality guy, Regan is."

"You sound like Yoda."

"I'm not getting Star Wars." Casey sliced his hand through the air before Eve could respond, "End of discussion."

"I was only going to say that I wasn't going to ask you to. Sheesh, jump to conclusions much?"

*********

About a minute after Casey left, Dr. Williams came on the line. "Hello, this is Dr. Williams. What may I do for you?"

Trisha sighed in relief for getting him and annoyance for how long it took. "Yes, my name is Trisha Fisher. My daughter, Eve, is going to be starting your treatment the day after tomorrow so we are currently working on her detox. We wanted to know if that also includes the burn cream. We can't seem to find the answer in your paperwork." She wasn't sure how to feel about this doctor. They've only ever spoken on the phone and he is making decisions based on Eve's medical records. That is how medical records are supposed to work but Trisha never felt you could make a properly informed decision that way. In all her experience things never worked out or appeared as they were on paper.

"Oh, yes. Evelyn Jane Fisher," Dr. Williams said. "Yes, the cream is fine for her to use but only that. Those burns can be quite uncomfortable, I'm sure."

"That's excellent news. Is there anything we can do about her gums too? I mean, she hasn't eaten today but I think she is going to make a point to avoid it."

Dr. Williams sighed. He always hated advising patients about the 48 hour detox. That was basically the worst part of the whole process, unless you counted poisoning yourself as bad. "I'm sorry, Mrs. Fisher. Unfortunately, anything put in the mouth gets ingested and we can't have anything in the system medication wise."

Trisha's tone saddened, "Alright. Thank you, Dr. Williams."

"Mrs. Fisher," he started before she could hand up, "I know it's going to be hard for her to eat but it is very important that she keeps her fluids up. Sometimes different teas are the best way to go about it to get both at one time."

"I'll try that," she said. "Thanks again."

"Any time. I'm always available for my patients. We'll see you day after next."

"Bye." Trisha hung up the phone. She gathered all the paperwork scattered about into a neat pile and began putting it away. Maybe they could ask Grace to make some more of that soup and tea.

The TV flashed on and Beckman sat behind the oak desk watching Trisha put things away. "Trisha," she said softly so she didn't startle the poor woman. It wouldn't do to cause Trisha any undo stress. She already had enough on her plate.

Trisha straightened at Beckman's voice. She finished zipping up the briefcase before acknowledging Diane back. She thought all morning about what she was going to say. She didn't want to keep this argument going. There was no point to it. What's done is done. She turned around and looked at the screen, "Diane. I'm sorry for the way I acted earlier. Eve was right. We were being very childish."

Diane slowly nodded. She had also thought about the best way to end the argument. All she wanted was for Eve to live, no matter what the risk and she wanted Trisha to see that. She could tell Trisha was giving her an out to the disagreement and she happily took it. "Yes, we were. I guess some things never change."

"Yeah," Trisha said. They both were left to their thoughts for a moment before Trisha spoke again. Her voice hitched a little when she did, "When do you think you'll make it out?"

Diane was immediately concerned, "Why? What's happened?"

"Nothing," Trisha said shaking her head, blinking back tears. It wouldn't do to cry in front of the General. Not that she works for her anymore but old habits die hard. "Nothing has happened. I just . . . I just have a feeling that you're going to need to be here, Diane. I can't explain it."

"Trisha, Eve is strong."

"I know that. I do. If you could see her though, Diane, you'd understand. She is so different than this morning. So . . ." Trisha looked as if she was trying to find the correct word, "deflated."

Deflated was never a good word to use when describing Eve. She was the eternal optimist even after everything she's gone through. At least Trisha didn't use defeated. That would have been cause for extra concern. Diane didn't ask any more questions and said, "I have a couple more meetings that can't be put off over the next few days. I will try to move them up and then I will be on the next flight out." At Trish's nod, she continued, "Stay positive, Trisha. Eve won't be down for long. She always bounces back." With that, Beckman's image disappeared.

Trisha took a moment to gain her resolve and then started up the stairs. She stood in the doorway, listening to Casey and Eve talk about what movies to get. Casey was the most at east around Eve, dare she say even more so than with David. It seemed to her that having Casey around also helped Eve stay strong. Eve idolized Casey and she never wanted to look weak in front of him. Trisha knocked lightly on the door to make them aware of her presence. "Hey, you guys. Eve, I spoke with Dr. Williams and you can still use the cream. It's just the medications that are ingested that can't be used."

"Oh, thank God!" Eve visibly relaxed. At that moment, she wanted nothing more than for Uncle Casey to leave and her mother to help her put on the cream "Uncle Casey, you'd better get moving on those movies."

Casey rolled up from his position on the bed, "Oh, fine. I can see when I'm not wanted." She said it teasingly but he knew she wanted him out. That didn't bother him one bit though. He saw some of her burn marks before and it was all he could do not to cry. Casey didn't cry.

Eve patted him lightly on the back, "You're always wanted, Uncle Casey. Especially when we need a movie run."

Trisha and Casey laughed slightly. "I see how it is," Casey said. "I'm just a gopher."

"As long as you're up on the status quo," Eve joked.

"Well, I'll get going then. Anything for dinner too? Or did you actually want to go to Bartowski's?"

Trisha started in on her objection, "John, I really don't think it's a good idea for Eve to be around so many people. Her immune system doesn't have any backup this weekend."

"Yeah, it's probably not a good idea to go out, Uncle Casey." Eve really wanted to go though. She wanted to meet all the people Casey's told her about. "I'm not particularly hungry anyway." That was an outright lie. She was starving but she could feel her gums swelling and the top had cuts so if any salty food got in there it would hurt.

John grunted, "Eve, you've gotta eat. That's an order." Eve rolled her eyes but said nothing so he continued, "What if I stopped by the diner and asked Grace to make some of that soup and tea you liked?"

Eve perked up, "Really? That'd be awesome!"

"Alright," Casey said with a grunt while moving to stand, "I'll be back in a couple hours. Don't mess up my house." Casey was light and joking but the message was clear. Don't snoop for anything and mind your own business.

He walked out the door leaving mother and daughter alone. Eve tried to stay upbeat but she felt anything but. Trisha watched her daughter close her eyes to rest. She thanked God everyday for giving her this child and for letting her keep Eve this long. It's a magnanimous feat to watch your child fight what many experts at this point are considering a loosing battle. Dr. Williams even felt this course of action might not be worth it in the end. But Eve was insistent that she would beat this a second time.

"Hey, Mom?"

"Yes, Baby?"

"You think we could put that cream on now? It really hurts."

"Sure. Where'd you put it?" Eve pointed to the nightstand. Trisha grabbed the tube and put a dollop on her hands. "I'm going to lift up your shirt, okay?" When Eve nodded in acquiescence, Trisha used her pinkies to gently expose Eve's belly. Trisha was shocked to see the angry red coloring her daughters skin. It was so much more worse than yesterday. She didn't say anything but started to put the cream around the areas of black skin but not right on those parts. Eve took in a sharp breath at first contact and wrapped her hands around the comforter. Her eyes were shut tightly and her jaw was clenched. Trisha grimaced, "I'm sorry, Baby. I'm trying to be gentle."

"It's okay," Eve let out painfully, "I know."

Trisha rubbed the cream around as quickly and gently as she could. When she moved the shirt up higher it caused her to grimace even more. "You're a little cracked on this side. I'll need to get some gauze when we're done."

"Okay." While she did want some alone time, she was also glad her mother stayed to take care of her. Eve focused on controlling her breathing and thinking about anything else but the pain. She avoided topics that she may not ever be able to experience like being in love or competing in the Olympics. Twice that dream had been taken from her by this stupid disease but when she beats it this time, she will jump right back on that horse. She always said when and never if because she didn't want to give up. Half the battle was believing you'd win.

"Lets roll you over to you're stomach and get you scooted up on the bed so you're more comfortable," Trisha said helping move Eve's legs onto the bed. She noticed Eve's feet were quite swollen. "Would you like ice packs for your feet?"

"Sure," Eve mumbled. She kept her arms tucked under her chest and felt herself starting to fall asleep. _'Uncle Casey sure has good taste in beds. This is so comfortable.' _

Trisha finished with Eve's back quickly. "It looks like you've only got the one cut open. I'm going to get the gauze and the ice packs."

"Thanks Mom. You're the best," Eve said with a tired smile while her eyes remained closed. In no time her mother returned and started carefully working on the cut. She used medicated ointment to help keep the gauze pad stuck to Eve's skin. She brought in a towel and gently lifted Eve's feet to lay it underneath so the ice wouldn't get the bed as wet. She used a hand towel to cover Eve's feet to help keep them protected a little. Just as she was about to leave the room, Eve asked, "Will you stay with me til I fall asleep?"

"Of course, Baby." Trisha laid down carefully on the bed so she didn't jostle Eve too much. She ran her fingers through Eve's hair and hummed the lullaby she sang to Eve as a child. In no time Eve was asleep but Trisha stayed to watch over her for a while, enjoying the time they had together.

*********

Chuck and Sarah arrived at the outdoor paint ball park eager to get down to business. Chuck was excited to be able to teach Sarah something new for once and something she was actually interested in too. It was close enough to her job at the CIA that it wouldn't be too boring, he hoped. "Okay, so, first of all, we need some protective gear. They provide goggles and jumpsuits to put over your clothes. Anything else is up to you. I normally only use that and then a utility belt for extra ammo."

"Okay."

"We rent the guns but buy the ammo so only buy what you need."

Sarah smiled, "You can never have too much ammo."

"Hey, Chuck, Sarah," Morgan called, "You guys joining in?"

"Joining in what?" Sarah asked.

"The Buy More Vs. Large Mart tournament. Every year you don't play we get creamed because of freakin' Jeff. He always comes drunk and you're the only one fast enough to compensate."

"Oh, that's today? I completely forgot. Maybe thats why when I thought we had time that this was something to do." Chuck looked to Sarah, "Well, Sarah and I were just going to play, but if you wouldn't mind, Sarah, it's always more fun with more people."

"Yeah, please, Sarah? Chuck is the man. And we are outnumbered like three to one."

Sarah shrugged, "Why not? I've never played before so this should be interesting." She figured it would be easy to get the hang of it.

"Sweet. You guys are awesome!" Morgan started walking backwards to the arena, "I'm going to tell the others."

"Morgan, watch-" Chuck started but was too late. Morgan tripped over a bin of goggles on display, scattering the product over the floor. "-out for the goggles," he finished more to himself than Morgan. He jogged over to Morgan and helped him to his feet. Both of the guys started cleaning up the goggles. Chuck started laughing a little, "Are you okay, little buddy?"

"I'm great. My pride left me about thirty seconds ago but other than that I'm all intact." Morgan scurried about on the ground, cleaning up his mess. He leaned up to Chuck and asked, "Anna didn't see, did she?"

Chuck skillfully scoped for Anna without being too obvious. "I think you're safe," he said as he threw the last pair into the bin.

"Awesome. My pride's caught up with me. Sweetness!" Morgan held up his hand for a high five and Chuck gladly obliged. "Get your stuff so we can kick some Large Mart butt."

"Okay. We'll be there shortly." Chuck walked back to Sarah. "He can be such a clutz sometimes."

"Hmm, like some one else I know," Sarah said teasingly bumping Chuck with her elbow.

Chuck scrunched up his face at her, "Hardy, har-har. I'll have you know I have been known to be less than clumsy before."

"Really?"

Before Chuck could respond, the counter attendant appeared, "Hey, Bartowski. Long time no see."

"Stan," Chuck said exuberantly. "I've been busy lately but it seems I have some time off."

"Whatcha been up to?"

"Working and helping Ellie plan her wedding. The usual."

"Ahh, Ellie is getting married. That's great," Stan said. He turned his attention to Sarah and eyed her up and down. "Who is this, Chuck?" he asked, his eyes never leaving Sarah.

"Oh, how rude of me," Chuck said, "This is my girlfriend, Sarah. Sarah, this is Stan. He gave me my first job here."

"Oh. It's nice to meet you, Stan," Sarah said politely holding her hand out.

Stan grabbed it and kissed the back, "The pleasure is all mine, my dear. And Chuck, this beautiful woman is not in the usual for you."

"Hey, Stan. No charming my girlfriend. I'm trying to keep this one and I can't do that if you're trying to get the better of me," Chuck teased.

"Sarah!" Morgan called, "Come here for a sec. We wanna run over with you our plan of attack. Chuck already knows it."

"Okay," Sarah said to Morgan. She turned to look at Chuck and gave him a kiss on the cheek so she could whisper in his ear for only him to hear, "There's no one better than you, Chuck." She pulled back and gave his hand a squeeze. "See you in a bit." She jogged towards Morgan, Anna, Jeff and Lester.

Chuck blushed a deep shade of red and watched her run to his friends. _'Its just for cover, Chuck.' _She seemed to be taking this vacation to heart but Chuck worried what that meant for when things got back to "normal" again, if they ever did. If Casey was actually sick, he was also worried what that meant for him. He just had to trust that Sarah wouldn't let him go to the bunker, which he did.

"You got your self a fine woman there, Chuck," Stan said, leaning over the counter.

Chuck has a far off look as he replied, "Yeah, she's some kind of wonderful." He turned to look at Stan while standing to full height, "Okay, so I need two of everything, same amount of ammo as usual for me and double for Sarah."

"Wooh, your lady friend planning to shoot much? I thought she hasn't played before."

"Well, she'll need some for practice. Besides," Chuck smiled knowingly, "I have a feeling that she is going to be a natural."

**********

Once everyone was all suited up, Morgan turned to look at the group. Anna liked it when he took charge. She found it sexy. "Alright everyone. Remember your positions and don't let them capture the sacred flag of Buymoria. Sarah, you can shadow Anna until you feel more comfortable with the gun."

Sarah had been pleasantly surprised at Morgan's tactical approach to the game. In another world he may have actually been good at organizing missions. "Okay. I think I've got it though. Point and shoot, can't be that hard."

"Great." Morgan handed out each player as radio. "Thanks to Jeff we'll have communication throughout. Keep communication going. Ready to keep Buymoria as top conquerer?" Morgan put his hand out in front of everyone.

Once all hands were in, everyone cheered, "Break!" and fanned out into their positions. Chuck caught up to Sarah who had a smirk on her face. "What's that smirk about?" Chuck asked.

"Oh, nothing," Sarah said innocently, prepping her gun, "I'm just excited. I can't believe how much detail you guys go into. I'm shocked that you're basically the Army Ranger or Navy Seal on the team. This I gotta see."

Chuck smiled. "Watch and learn, Walker. Watch and learn."

Stan came over the PA system and laid out the rules, "Okay, teams. There is no violence on in my arena. You're allowed to be shot five times before you're out for good, no head shots. Remember, when you're out, arms up and gun down. No shooting people walking off the course. Opposing teams can take prisoners and it will be up to your remaining team members to get you out. We have three referees and they will call you out by name when you're out. Everyone ready?" Stan didn't wait for a response and hit the buzzer.

Music started up and the teams began moving out. Jeff stumbled drunkly out the gates trying to keep upright. Chuck helped to steady him and shot down a member of the other team. Sarah was impressed to see how quickly Chuck could shoot the gun, especially one handed. "Jeff, you gotta keep up with Lester, man."

"Adams, you're out," referee number one shouted.

"Ah, man, we just started. This sucks," Adams yelled throwing his arms up and walking off.

Sarah shadowed Anna for a bit until baddies from the other side showed up. They were outnumber and divided to opposite sides for cover. Sarah listened for how many shooters there were and motioned for Anna's attention. She didn't want to risk the radio since they were so close. Luckily Anna had a brain and noticed what she was doing. Sarah held up three fingers and Anna nodded, assuming she was able to see how many before they were separated. Both ladies took out one guy each and kept the other as hostage. Sarah put her gun up to the third man as he was about to shoot Anna. "Don't even think about it," Sarah said. She removed the gun from the third man and told Anna she would take him back to base. Anna nodded and continued towards the opposite side while informing the others of their success. The Buymoria side was significantly outnumber in comparison to Large Mart but so far they were doing well.

"Michael, Dobbs, you're out," the second ref shouted and each man made their way off the course.

Sarah got back to base and put the prisoner in what looked like a penalty box for hockey where Jeff and Lester were tasked with keeping prisoners from being rescued. "We got a live one, Jeff," Lester said as Sarah came into sight, "What sort of torture should we make him endure, hmm?"

"We could make him starve."

"Jeffrey, Jeffrey, Jeffrey. There isn't time for that to be effective."Lester turned to the man and pounded on the door. "What is your plan?"

Sarah rolled her eyes and left, but not before hearing the man say, "I'll never say anything, jerk." There is no way those two should ever be allowed to interrogate anyone and that man would weasel under actual interrogation. Sarah found a high vantage point to look over the course and assess the best plan of action. She could see Chuck quietly make his way into the opposing teams base.

"_Aww, man. I've been captured,"_ Anna's voice came over the radio.

"_Sit tight, Anna banana. I'll be there to rescue you soon."_ Morgan replied.

Sarah watch Chuck hide in the corner of the base when he heard Anna's warning. He crouched down and prepared his weapon. She also noticed him looking around for escape routes if need be. Sarah took a sniper stance and prepared to cover Chuck and Morgan's rescue attempt. "Chuck, I've got you covered. Get Anna out of there." No response came because the Anna had entered the base. Sarah patiently waited for Chuck to signal assistance.

Morgan ran screaming into the base. He rapidly fired off rounds and knocked two more players out of the game, successfully rescuing Anna, but getting himself kicked out of the game.

"Grimes, Joseph, Anthony, you're out," the ref shouted.

Unfortunately, Morgan's rescue cornered Chuck at the base as most of the rest of the team returned. Sarah looked back to their base and saw three guys making their way towards the base. Jeff and Lester were still stupidly trying to get information out of their prisoner and failed to notice them enter home base. Sarah fired off shots to try to get them to look but they didn't do anything. That move gave her position away and she had to get out of there since shots started firing towards her.

"Lester, Jeff, you're out," the ref yelled. The other team members rescued their man and gave him his gun back. On the way back to their side, they encountered Anna taking her out. For one she was caught off guard and for two she was outnumbered. She did take out one with her so only three returned. They still didn't get the Buymoria flag so it was up to her and Chuck to keep it that way. "Anna, Caleb, you're out."

Sarah found a different vantage point and took out two of the guys that jumped Anna but the third one was able to hide from her. Suddenly Chuck dropped in next to her, startling her a bit. She didn't even hear him coming. "Sounds like its just you and me left," he said.

"Sounds like it." Both of them looked over the course to spot the flag. The remaining members of the other team scattered around looking for the flag, trapping Chuck and Sarah unless they were extremely careful. "Chuck, look over there," she whispered to him and pointed to the left. "Is that the flag?"

"Yeah, I think so," Chuck said. He panned over the course for the best path. Spotting an open one, he said, "I have an idea. They left open a path. If you take the bridge over to that rope swing and cross the barrels you might have a shot at the flag. The open field after the barrels will be the tricky part but I'll have you covered from here. You're more agile than me so you have a better chance. I think our best course of action is to get their flag. They're still looking for ours but I'll let you know if that changes."

Sarah nodded in agreement. "Okay. That looks like the most direct path. And you're sure you'll have my back?"

"Always," Chuck said, "Are you doubting me?"

Sarah looked at Chuck in the eyes, "Not at all. I'm thoroughly impressed at your skill."

"Told you. I'm a legend."

**********

Morgan and the others watched Sarah ease herself down the side of wall as silently as possible. "It looks like they've found the flag."

"They're outnumbered, they won't make it," Adams said. "You're a goner, Chuck! Victory will be ours!" he shouted.

"They'll make it," Morgan said confidently.

As Sarah was about to start her ascent up to the rope swing, a member of the other team appeared from above. Chuck fired several shots in rapid vengeance, hitting his target before he knew what was happening. Sarah looked over her shoulder and smiled at Chuck briefly before starting up the ladder.

"Wilson, you're out."

The sidelined viewers watched Chuck change to a different point, giving himself a better angle to cover Sarah and watch over their flag. When Sarah started out into the open field four guys started to creep in around her. She took out one and did a tuck and roll dive getting out of the line of fire before setting her self on her knee and firing at the other one on her right. Chuck took out the other two and moved positions again.

"Holy Cow!" the ref exclaimed, "Donald, Larry, Monty and Joe, you're all out."

"Wow! That was so cool!" Michael said. "I thought you said she never played before."

"She hasn't," Morgan said dumbfounded.

They watched Sarah reach the top platform and grab the flag. "Ah, man, she's got the flag!" the entire other team groaned. Michael perked up, "Look, look though. Danny is gonna get the jump on Chuck!"

Sarah however, turned in time to see the man approaching Chuck. She got her gun at the ready and fired, hitting him squarely in the chest. One shot didn't proceed the other shots as quickly as Chuck's did but they did their job and the guy was out.

"Danny, you're out," the ref announced. "This is crazy!"

Morgan and the Buymorians cheered at the display of action. Sarah still had to get back to home base in order to be declared the official winner of the game. Anna was on Morgan's right with Jeff and Lester to his left. Their hands were clamped together in anticipation of the win, "Go, Sarah, go!"

Sarah was just about to enter the maze when two of the remaining three members of the team jumped in front of her. She reacted quickly and hid behind the wall. Paint balls were smacking the barricades as each side took turns firing. "Chuck! I'm out," Sarah called over the radio. When there was no response, Sarah grew concerned, "Chuck?"

Chuck slid in from the side taking out one of the men as he reached Sarah. He gave her some of his left over ammo, "Here take this. Go around back and get that flag to home base. I'll keep him occupied here."

"Clark, you're out."

"What about you?" Sarah asked, "This is the last of your ammo. You need it more than I do."

"I've got this, Sarah. Go," Chuck said and turned his attention back to where the firing was coming from. He returned shots so Sarah could start for the base but she didn't move. "There's one more guy near the entrance so you're gonna need to get him with something. Go, Sarah." Chuck fired more and Sarah reluctantly left. Chuck had gotten the other man's timing down and took a deep breath doing a mental count down. He only had five shots left so he had to make them count. He waited for one more round of shots from the other guy before moving in. Slowly he made it up to the man and as he was loading his gun, Chuck fired his last five shots, taking him out.

"Alan, you're out. This is the best comeback I've seen in a while."

Sarah reached home base but paused before entering. She listened for any sign of the last man. It was stupid to get this far and then make a mistake so close to the end. Sarah took the time to load her weapon with the last of the ammo. She didn't look at the gun as she was filling it. Instead she was looking for the guy. He came out the front door and glanced around for anyone. Suddenly Chuck appeared from the left pointing his gun at the last guy. He'd been doing that dropping in thing the whole game. Sarah was impressed at his stealth.

"It's over, Ted," Chuck said pointing his gun at him. "You're the last man standing on your team."

Ted mimicked Chuck's pose and said, "I'm not giving in that easy, Chuck." He didn't want to cause Chuck to shoot at him since he was the last guy so it would be best to hold him here and wait for him to slip.

Sarah used the distraction to sneak around to the back of the base. Sarah made eye contact with Chuck over Ted's shoulder. She gave him a wink and quietly attached the flag to the pole so she could raise it.

Chuck kept the focus on him so Ted wouldn't turn and shoot on Sarah. He didn't have any ammo left but Ted didn't know that. "My teammate is looking for your flag as we speak. I'm sure she'll have it soon but I can stand here all day."

Sarah slowly raised the flag so she didn't arouse any suspicion.

Ted answered, "She'll never find-"

An alarm shrilled off when the flag hit the top. Lights flashed and bells rang. "Game Over, Game Over, Game Over," kept playing over and over on the PA system. Ted and Chuck dropped their guns off each other. All the Buymorians leaped with pride. They remain unbeaten by Large Mart.

Sarah ran to Chuck with a huge smile on her face and jumped into his arms, "We won!"

Chuck twirled them around and then put Sarah on the ground, "We did it, We did it. Whose awesome? Sarah's awesome!" The other team walked out of the arena with their heads dropped. "Good thing too. I was out of ammo."

"Chuck," Sarah admonished him.

"What? Ted didn't know that."

She didn't respond, she just rolled her eyes.

*********

Chuck and Sarah were returning the equipment to Stan. She looked over at Chuck but didn't say anything. She looked like she wanted to but nothing ever came out. "What, Sarah?"

"Nothing. I'm just seeing things in a different perspective, I guess." She glanced around and lowered her voice, "Where is that guy on missions?"

Chuck laughed, "That guy is hiding from real bullets. He only makes an appearance in pretend games. Real guns and Chuck don't mix. Didn't Cole being around teach you that?"

Morgan came up to the pair, interrupting their moment, and slapped them on the shoulder, "That was awesome! Sarah, you're a natural."

She smiled shyly, "Thanks. It was a lot of fun."

"I mean you guys have amazing teamwork! Man, I've never seen anything so cool. Have you gotten better since last time, Chuck? Or is it because you were trying to impress Sarah" Morgan dropped the subject and changed to a different one going off on a tangent. He knew of something else that would impress Sarah, "Oh, hey, Chuck? Are you coming to Celeste's birthday party tomorrow? Sarah, you should come too. The family is dying to meet you."

"The family?" Sarah questioned.

"Yeah, they all wanna know who stole our boy, Chuck's, heart," Morgan said shoving Chuck lightly. "I promise a night you'll never forget," he said to Sarah, conspiratorially.

"Morgan-"

"Sounds like fun," Sarah said.

"What?" Chuck quipped.

Sarah looked at Chuck and shrugged, "We don't have anything else right? It should be fun."

"Aren't you looking at stuff with Ellie tomorrow?"

"That won't take all day, Silly."

Chuck sighed. _'Great. They always make me dance at these things. This is gonna suck!'_ "Fine. I guess we can go."

"Hey, don't sound so down about it Chuck. It'll be awesome. Good food, lots of music and dancing," Morgan said.

"That's what I'm afraid of."

Morgan waived his hand, "Anh, you'll be fine my man. With this awesome of a woman next to you, there's nothing you can't do."

Chuck mumbled quietly, "You have no idea how right you are."

*************

Well, that's all she wrote. Please read and review.


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Hey guys! Just a note to say thank you again. =) (I hope that doesn't get too old for you guys cuz I really am grateful.) In this chapter is Morgan's cousin's Quinceanera where Sarah will learn a secret or two about our dearest Chuck. For those of you who don't know, a Quinceanera is kind of like a débutante ball or a sweet sixteen party. It's a coming of age party for girls of Latin culture when they turn fifteen. I'm not a Latin American so I'm not 100% positive on all the terms and exactly how one goes so I'm just winging it.

Chapter Six

Casey, Trisha, and Eve had spent the rest of the night watching movies in the spare bedroom. Eve had napped while Casey was gone. He brought in a TV so that Eve didn't have to move. Trisha fell asleep next to her on the bed and Casey had fallen asleep on the floor. His neck laying in a funky position is what caused him to wake up first. He groaned in discomfort as he sat up and rested against the foot of the bed. He rubbed his neck and moved his head around to get the crick out. He looked behind him and saw his guests sleeping soundly. Glancing over to the clock, the time read eight fifty three. _'Well, I guess I'll get started on breakfast,'_ he thought. He stood up and stretched out his back and legs. He went into the kitchen and looked in the fridge to see what there was to make.

Deciding that pancakes sounded good and should be something easy on Eve as long as she stayed away from syrup, he began pulling out the ingredients that he would need. Casey placed the ingredients on the counter in the order listed on the recipe from left to right, always a stickler for order. Flour, baking powder, salt, sugar, milk, eggs, and butter. He then arranged all the supplies he needed. A large bowl was placed in the center and next to it he laid the mixing spoon parallel. The measuring utensils were then arranged from biggest to smallest above the bowl and before the ingredients. Some people called it obsessive compulsive, he called it organized. Casey gave a grunt of satisfaction and turned to the stove to a medium high setting. Allowing the pan to heat, Casey read over the instructions. Even though he had made these several times, it wasn't in his nature to not follow instructions to the letter. Before starting to mix anything, he washed his hands. He sifted the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar into the bowl until it was almost impossible to distinguish a difference between them. Creating a well in the mix, Casey poured in the milk, eggs and melted butter and beat it until the batter was smooth and creamy.

He turned to the stove and poured the first pancake in. While it was starting to brown, Casey washed the used utensils and put them into the dishwasher. Then he flipped the pancake to the other side and put all the ingredients back in their designated areas. He grabbed a plate for the finished pancakes and placed it to the right of the stove. Once the first one was finished, he put it on the plate and poured the next. While that one got going, he cleaned the used counter behind him then washed his hands again. He continued this staggered pattern while making bacon, eggs and hash browns. All in all it seemed like it would be a pretty good breakfast.

"John!" Trisha yelled from upstairs. "Get up here, now! And bring a bowl with you!"

_'Uh oh!' _Casey quickly turned off the stove and grabbed a bowl, rushing up the stairs. When he got to the door, he saw Eve hanging over the side of the bed throwing up and Trisha was holding her steady. Eve was really weak and could barely hold herself up. Her arms were shaking with exertion. John ran and fell to his knees if front of her and put the bowl underneath to catch her throw up. Some had already made it to the carpet and some was on the comforter but John was more concerned with making sure Eve was okay.

************

Trisha awoke shortly after John had left. Eve was still asleep so she tried to force herself to rest some more. She could hear John downstairs in the kitchen. She dozed in and out for a while until she decided that she wouldn't make it back to sleep so she laid on the bed watching Eve sleep. All she wanted to do was wrap Eve in her arms and make everything go away but these things don't work like that and she couldn't even really touch her daughter. Trisha settled for running her hand through Eve's hair. When Eve's skin started to get clammy as if she were fighting a fever and she started to groan and shake as if she were cold, Trisha knew what that meant and yelled for Casey, "John! Get up here, now and bring a bowl with you!" It was Eve's tell for when she would need to throw up.

Before John made it Eve rolled to her side and propped herself up as best as she could. Last nights dinner didn't taste as good coming up as it did going down. Her arms looked as if they were about to buckle so Trisha rested a hand against Eve's shoulder for support. Eve let out a hiss of pain that turned into a dry heave. "Relax, Eve. You've got to let it out," Trisha soothed.

Eve was honestly trying to follow her mother's instructions but her body had other things in mind. The more times she dry heaved the longer her muscles spent spasming, pulling at her skin tightly.

Casey could see blood spots appearing through Eve's white shirt where the skin started to crack. He watched it happen a few more times before making a suggestion. "Maybe if we got her some water so she has something in her stomach. It might make it settle or then she'll at least have something to let out."

Trisha looked up at John, "Okay. That's something to try."

"Please, no water," Eve said quietly. "My gums hurt." She didn't want to throw up anymore and she was pretty sure anything in her stomach at this point would cause her to do so.

Trisha nodded to John to get the water and then focused on Eve. "I know, baby, but we need you to rinse out your mouth to clean it. It'll help keep the cuts from getting infected."

Eve turned to face her mom with tired and bloodshot eyes, pleading with her not to make her take a drink, "Please, no water. It'll stop. Honest."

"Evelyn, you have to at least rinse your mouth out," she said more sternly but not as though she were upset, "It's better in the long run if you do."

Eve threw up a little more and then spit into the bowl, trying to clear out her mouth. Her arms gave way and Trisha caught her so she wouldn't fall to the ground. Eve took in a sharp breath, "Ow! Ow! Ow!" Eve's eyes welled with tears and her breathing became haggard.

"I'm sorry." Trisha rested Eve back against the bed and removed her hands as quickly as possible. "I'm sorry."

Eve took a couple breaths in exhaustion, trying to calm her shocked nerves. She weakly replied, "No it's okay. Falling would have been worse." Eve's mouth was twisted in disgust because of the lingering taste of vomit. She went to rest her hand down on the comforter and put it right into some of it. "Unh, sick," she grunted, a little grossed out and mad at herself that she had gotten it on Uncle Casey's clean sheets. She looked up at him holding a glass of water out to her. "I'm sorry about your sheets, Uncle Casey. And your carpet."

As she took the water, he responded, "It's no problem, Newt. I'll go get you a cleaning wipe and a new blanket." He left the room in search of the needed items.

Eve swirled some water around in her mouth and spit it into the bowl. She grimaced as she rested back on the bed after placing the cup on the bedside table. Her forearm laid against her waist to avoid the vomit and keep her dirtied hand off the blanket.

Trisha picked up the used bowl to take out. "I'm going to take this downstairs and grab the first aid kit. We need to get more cream on those burns and ointment onto the cuts."

Eve hummed in response. She closed her eyes and started to fall back asleep. The physical exertion had drained all the energy from her body.

Casey noticed took notice when he came back to the room so he warmed up the cleaning wipe in his hands and gently cleaned off her hand and wrist. Eve groaned when he touched her but she didn't move to wake. He carefully removed the dirty blanket off of Eve and replaced it with the clean one. He took the blanket downstairs and put it in the washer to clean. "I'm going to see if Ellie has some carpet cleaner. I ran out last time and haven't gotten more yet," he said to Trisha, "I'll be right back." He walked across the courtyard to Casa Bartowski and knocked. He was hoping Ellie or Devon would be the one to answer. It seems the world was with him when Ellie appeared at the door.

"Hi, John. What's up?" Ellie asked with a smile.

"I was wondering if you might have any carpet cleaner? We had a small accident this morning."

"Sure. Lemme check. Come on in and have a seat," she said as she moved to the back of the apartment.

He grunted politely in acknowledgement and took the seat closest to the door to wait for her. In no time Ellie returned with the cleaner.

"Here you go."

"Thanks," he said standing to take it from her. He started for the door but turned around before opening it, deciding he should get a little more information on this doctor and his treatment. _'Was it really necessary to make someone suffer so much just to get in on the treatment?'_ "Can I ask you something?"

Ellie raised her eyebrows, "Sure."

"What can you tell me about this Dr. Williams person?"

"Oh, um," Ellie started, taken off guard. She thought he'd ask something about Trisha. "Well, he is pretty new to the hospital. He came up with a treatment for cancer using Arsenic Trioxide. It supposedly helps patients that have become unresponsive to chemotherapy as a different form of treatment for a while until they can use chemo again. But sometimes it's used with the chemotherapy too."

Casey nodded, "How dangerous is it?"

"Well, it is Arsenic and if given the wrong amount even only by a little it's fatal. Arsenic is very dangerous."

Casey grunted distastefully, "Great. So basically he is trying to poison it out of you." Now he knows why Trisha was so opposed to it. This treatment seems like a rather unstable option. Too many things could go wrong. What if he got the measurements incorrect? If Eve died because of that then this Dr. Williams would have him to answer to and it wouldn't end pleasantly. Dr. Williams would be in for a long dirt nap, maybe even by his own devices. "How successful has this treatment been in the past?"

Ellie tilted her head to the left, "That depends on several different things. Like the type of cancer, what stage its in, how long the patient has been unresponsive to chemotherapy, how long the patient has had the disease. Those types of things," Ellie paused thinking of the best way to approach her next comment. She didn't want to come across as a biased doctor. This new treatment, while risky, was also quite remarkable. "You know, chemo is kind of like poisoning it out of you too. It kills all cells instead of just the cancer ones. Essentially the Arsenic is an alternative option. Chemo doesn't work effectively on all types of cancer." Ellie looked sorrowfully at John, "I'm sorry, John. I wish I could be more help, but I'm not an oncologist. I don't have the answers to those questions and even if I did, I don't really know much about the research behind the treatment. I wouldn't be able to offer a proper prognosis."

"That's okay. You've been a big help," Casey said. "One last question though. What is this guy's reputation?"

"Dr. Williams is one of the top Nationally ranked oncologists in the California area. Even with the treatment being extremely risky, the little I do know about the research, it looks promising. And as far as character, he seems to be very involved with his patients. He doesn't take on many patients so he can focus on getting the ones he does have better. I would imagine he will take on more depending on the FDA approving his treatment or not. If they do, then he would get a team to train on the treatment before launching it across the United States."

John nodded his head and grunted looking down at the package of carpet cleaner. "Well, thanks for this, Ellie. I'll bring it back later today." He opened the door and started to walk away.

"Okay," Ellie said, "And, John?" He stopped walking and looked over his shoulder to Ellie, "If you or Trisha or Eve need anything, you can always knock or call. We're here to help."

"I'll keep that in mind," he said and continued on to his home. He opened the door and found Trisha preparing things needed to clean the carpet.

Trisha had fixed up a bucket of water for Casey and started a load of laundry so the sheet wouldn't stain. She also cleaned the used bowl and had the first aid kit out on the counter. "Hey, I hope you don't mind but I did the laundry and got you a bucket ready." She knew he wasn't a fan of people going through his things. Casey nodded and grabbed the bucket taking it with him upstairs. Trisha followed him with the bowl and kit. She placed the bowl next to Eve so it was within easy reach. Eve was sleeping soundly and neither wanted to wake her so they quietly went about their business. Once Trisha had all the medical supplies prepared, she whispered to Casey, "Will you help me with the cream and bandages? I don't want her to get anymore cuts if we can help it."

Casey nodded and the two finished the carpet together and then started fixing Eve up.

*************

Ellie watched him until the door closed. _'Well, that's probably the longest conversation I've ever had with him. It's too bad he has to go through this. Maybe I'll do some more research for him and talk to Dr. Williams. He seems like a nice enough guy.'_ Ellie decided she would start gathering information for him and his family. _'Hopefully they won't feel like I'm intruding.'_ She closed the door and turned around to see Sarah coming out of Chuck's room. She liked having Sarah there. Ever since she's come around its like there has been a whole new Chuck. "Ready for some shopping?"

Sarah offered a smile. "Yep. Hey are you guys going to be keeping Chuck's bed for the guest room? I mean we can buy a new one."

Ellie protested, "Sarah, it's fine. Devon and I can get a new one."

"You're sure?"

"Of course," Ellie said while both women grabbed their purses and went out the door. "What's on you're agenda for tonight? If you guys have something going on I want to make sure we leave enough time to get to all the places we need to go." She knew about the party but she didn't know if Sarah was going to go with Chuck. She wasn't sure she'd be able to go because she was on call.

Sarah walked comfortably beside Ellie, willingly giving her control of the day. She had no idea how to go about setting up an apartment let alone making it home, like Chuck wanted. The CIA offered them an unlimited fund to get the place ready so she wasn't worried about that. It was what to get that was the problem. "We agreed to go to Morgan's cousin's quinsinera party, but that's not until seven so we have all day."

Ellie smiled largely, "Really? Chuck and you are going to a Grimes party?" Ellie knew what that meant. It meant that Chuck was going to be able to show off his more coordinated side. The man danced like a champ but his grace on the dance floor doesn't translate over into real life.

"Yeah," Sarah said confused by Ellie's reaction, "but he was kind of reluctant at first. Morgan said something about a night I'll never forget or something like that."

"Oh, believe me, you will not forget tonight," Ellie said knowingly. It didn't surprise her that Chuck wouldn't want to go, at least if Sarah was going. He wasn't as sure about his talent as everyone else so he probably wanted to avoid all possible forms of embarrassment especially in front of Sarah.

"Why?"

Ellie decided to leave it as a surprise for her. Bolonia would fill her in and if it wasn't her then one of Morgan's aunt's certainly would. They would never let Chuck leave without 'showing off', not with Sarah there. "Just trust me. Tonight will be memorable."

Sarah furrowed her brow sourly, "I feel so out of the loop." _'I hate surprises. Surprises are never ever good.'_ Sarah liked to be prepared for everything. She thought Chuck didn't want to go because of something Morgan would do. Little did she know it would turn out to be a pivotal turning point in her assessment of Chuck, as if his performance yesterday while paint balling hadn't done enough to change her view.

"It'll be worth the wait."

"If you say so," she said. "Are you going?"

"I'm on call starting at six so we'll see. As we all know, I like to avoid all things Morgan but the rest of his family is pretty normal. Honestly, if it weren't for them, I'm not so sure Chuck and I would have made it when we were younger."

Sarah interest was piqued by Ellie's comment. While she knew that Chuck and Morgan have been friends for years, this little piece of information never came up. "What do you mean?"

Ellie's mood sobered greatly from mere moments before, "Well, there was a time when I had no idea how to cook or run a home, believe it or not and Morgan's mom kind of took me under her wing to teach me. She showed how to balance checkbooks and do smart shopping with coupons and stuff. She taught me a great deal about time management. She basically showed me how to be a mom."

Sarah nodded and tried to brighten her mood a little when she said, "Which raises the question as to why Chuck is Chuck and Morgan is Morgan."

Ellie laughed slightly, "Yeah. But even I can't take credit for Chuck. There's just something about him. He always knows what the right thing to do is. Even when we were younger and things got too complicated, he could just fix it and he never asked for anything in return or wanted to be in the spotlight or anything." Ellie shook her head, "I just love him so much and I know he can do so much more than he gives himself credit for and I wish that he could see that." When Ellie started to tear up she stopped herself, "I'm going to stop before I mess up my makeup."

"Yeah, he's some kind of wonderful," she said to herself wistfully. Sarah realized how much Chuck meant to Ellie in that moment. It hit her like a ton of bricks. She could never let Chuck go into a bunker for his sake, or even because of her own selfishness, but she most certainly could never let Ellie loose him. Removing Chuck from the world, in any capacity- death or bunker- would cause a severe ripple effect in the lives of many people. It would be considered an exaggeration to anyone else but if Chuck were gone, then businesses would be lost, lives would be put in danger, and all of it could lead to a huge war, and not just because of the secrets in his head. No, Chuck Bartowski was not allowed to leave. And she would kill anyone who dared to stand in her way. It might have something to do with the fact that for the past while he's been the center of her entire universe and her world would turn upside-down at his loss or because it was her job to protect him. Either way, nothing would happen to Chuck while she was capable of stopping it. She missed when he surpassed the CIA as her top priority and probably doesn't even realize it.

Ellie watched Sarah become lost in her own thoughts. It was like she just had some sort or epiphany or something. She watched emotions flicker across her face. If you didn't know her, you never would have seen any change in Sarah's features. In all her Sarah watching, she has certainly gotten better at reading her, even if it was difficult at times. When there was a moment of what Ellie thought was passing menace, she asked, "You still with me, Sarah?"

"Huh? Oh yeah. Sorry. I was just thinking," Sarah said sheepishly with an embarrassed smile. Thinking it'd be best to change the subject, she asked, "So where to first?"

***********

It was a little after four when the girls had gotten home. They were laughing and putting away groceries. It turned out that Sarah was pretty easy to please when it came to shopping. They had plenty of ideas flowing and just needed Chuck's approval. They sat down at the kitchen table and shared a drink of tea while waiting for Chuck to get home.

**********

Chuck got home just before five and tiredly opened the door to the apartment. He wasn't really looking forward to tonight. His feet hurt from standing all day and running around helping customers because no one else would. All he wanted to do was sit down in front of his TV and play Call of Duty. He noticed Sarah sitting with Ellie at the table sharing a drink. Even if things were not real for them, it made him happy to know that Sarah felt safe here. "Hello, Ladies," he said with a smile. He took off his bag and laid it on the couch, heading towards the girls. Figuring he should do something to protect the cover, he leaned over to give Sarah a kiss on the cheek and whispered in her ear, "Hey, Beautiful." He pulled back and gave her his patented Bartowski smile except it was the one reserved only for her.

Sarah was momentarily caught off guard but quickly remembered Ellie was there and he was acting how a boyfriend would act. She bit her bottom lip to suppress a smile and blushed slightly at her negligence. _'God, Walker, it's not like you should feel anything when he says things like that anyway,' _she admonished herself. She returned his smile and said, "Hey." It came out a little more on a breathy note than she intended.

They had a staring contest for a while while Ellie watched with a smile. It was like they completely forgot she was there and she didn't mind one bit. As a matter of fact, she thought it was fabulous. No one said anything until Devon came into the room, his hair disheveled from sleep. He yawned tiredly and said, "What's happening?"

Sarah and Chuck broke eye contact and looked at Devon. "Hey Devon," they said in unison.

Chuck broke out on his own saying in rapid fire, "Jinx! One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, you owe me a candy bar."

Sarah stared at him strangely, "What?"

"You owe me a candy bar."

"Why?"

"Because we said 'hey, Devon' at the same time and I called jinx."

"I'm not following."

"It's a game," Ellie broke in. "You're supposed to call stop before he gets to ten and if you don't then you owe him a candy bar or a drink or what ever."

"Oookaay," Sarah let out slowly. "I don't know that game but I guess I can get you a candy bar."

Ellie cocked her head sideways at Sarah. "You mean to tell me you've never played that game with your sister? Chuck and I played it all the time when we were younger."

Sarah's eyes widened at the mention of a sister. When had she mentioned that? Sarah wracked through her brain trying to think. _'Oh, yeah. That's right. The game we played last year. That couples one . . .'_

Ellie continued on, not seeing Sarah's reaction, "I've meant to ask you about your sister? You know she can come to the wedding."

Sarah tensed. Ellie may not have been noticing Sarah's reactions but Chuck certainly was. "Ah, Ellie," he answered so Sarah didn't have to, "It's kind of a touchy subject. Maybe you could just let it go?" He wasn't sure if Sarah's reaction meant that she really did have a sister and didn't want to talk about it or if she didn't have a sister and didn't want to be caught in a lie. _'But lying shouldn't phase her.'_

Sarah looked at Chuck with an unreadable expression. Ellie started to notice Sarah's unwillingness to speak. She knew Sarah was private and Ellie didn't want to be intrusive. Sometimes, though, she couldn't help but feel that they really didn't know anything about Sarah at all, no matter how much they loved having her around. "I'm sorry, Sarah. You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to."

Sarah offered a slight smile but said nothing. Inside she was more grateful than anything that they dropped the subject. She looked over at Chuck and he comfortingly rubbed her back, giving her a reassuring smile. "So what candy bar do I owe you?"

"Uh, I am offended that you don't know my favorite candy bar," Chuck teased.

Sarah rolled her eyes, "It depends on your mood. When you just want something to have you normally have a Reese's or Butterfinger. When you're sad, it's all about the chocolates with caramel, Twix, Rollos, those kinds, although I would have to say that you get Milk Duds more often than not."

Chuck blushed, "Alright so I'm a sucker for sweets."

Sarah playfully narrowed her eyes at him. "Hmm, interesting how you choose a candy to describe your obsession."

"Does it bother you that I like candy so much?" Chuck asked worriedly. _'Cause if it did, I would stop even though that would totally suck!'_

"Not at all. But I do think for the sake of your health that you should probably cut back a little."

"Good luck," she heard Ellie mutter.

Chuck glared at his sister, "Okay. I'll cut back."

Ellie let out a breath of shock. "Seriously? Chuck, I've been trying to get you to do that for years and all Sarah has to do is bat her baby blues at you and you comply? I'm a doctor for goodness sake!"

Sarah laughed in spite of herself. _'If only that worked all the time. Like getting him to stay in the damn car.'_ She knew Ellie wasn't really mad at Chuck but her reaction was amusing.

Devon, who had been quite since he came out, had finally gotten some coffee in him to help wake him up and decided to join in the tease session, "You know, Babe, there is just something about when your girlfriend asks you to do something over your big sister."

"Exactly. Thank you," Chuck said extending his hand to point at Devon. He looked back to Ellie, "And her eyes aren't baby blue. They're more of an azure color with speckles of brown and green around the pupils and they kind of fade out to this gray color around the rim. Although they are a hazel color when she wears earthy colors. But then if she's wearing this really gorgeous blue top she has, then they're more of like a sapphire color mixed with like a royal blue . . ." Chuck trailed off, apparently loosing himself in the memory. As he continued his thoughts weren't directed at anyone specifically but he said them anyway, "That's my favorite. And when the sun hits them just right they become a pure sort of crystalline blue." Chuck came back to his senses and started blushing embarrassedly. He looked down at his hands resting on the table. _'I cannot believe I just said that out loud,'_ he thought. He never meant to go that far with it but looking at her eyes was the quickest way to tell what her mood was. For instance, if she was playful they were like ice, like when they first met. If she was sad or hurt they were a steely blue or gray, like when he didn't tell her he was searching for Orion.

Sarah looked at him with dumbstruck veneration. _'Has he really put that much thought into just my eyes alone? Whose life have I stepped into?'_ Sarah's thoughts turned to life after the CIA and what it could be like if she were the type of girl who had someone like Chuck to say things like that to all the time. Hell, who was she kidding? It would have to be Chuck for it to matter. If there was no Chuck after the CIA then there was no leaving the CIA. _'You're going to get yourself into trouble with this line of thinking, Walker. Get out. Get out now!' _

Chuck glanced bashfully at Sarah. He let out a small laugh and a mumbled apology. He really hoped that she didn't take it the wrong way and that she wouldn't be uncomfortable for the rest of the night. _'Hi foot! I'm mouth. Pleased to meet ya.'_ Chuck drummed his fingers nervously on the table, "Well, I'm going to take a shower and get ready for Celeste's party," he said retreating to his room without a second glance back to the remaining three members in the room.

"Yeah," Sarah said standing, "I should get going."

"You can stay and use our bathroom. Chuck doesn't take very long in the shower."

"I wouldn't want to intrude." The truth was she needed to get out for a while to get her head back on straight. "Plus I don't have clothes here to fit the occasion so I have to leave anyway."

"Okay," Ellie said standing to give her a hug. "But Sarah, you are never an imposition and you are not an intrusion. So stop saying that."

Sarah nodded, not trusting herself to speak. She headed for the door, grabbing her keys and bag, "I'll see you later."

*********

Sarah spent her time trying to focus on getting ready and keeping her thoughts from a certain nerd with brown eyes. Except for thinking about eyes made her think about Chuck's comment and the fact that she nearly swooned at descriptiveness. How had she not noticed him looking that intricately at her eyes? She knew they had their moments when they stared at each other but did all concept of time really elude her in those moments? If it did, they would have a serious problem. But those moments couldn't have been that long, could they? Maybe he was just a quick learn. He has shown a certain aptitude for thinking on his feet.

Whether consciously or not, Sarah found herself dressed in a knee length blue and white sun dress that happened to accentuate her eyes to Chuck's favorite color. Sure it wasn't anything fancy but Morgan said it didn't have to be. The party was just going to be in his Aunt's backyard on the patio and they were going to have a more relaxed event.

*********

Sarah had forgotten her phone at Chuck's house in her rush to get out. Chuck had tried calling her to see if she was coming back or if he should go over there or what to do but when he heard her phone on the table, he debated with himself for fifteen minutes over what to do. He didn't want to barge in where he shouldn't. After she left he was worried that it was because of what he said. _'God! What was I thinking?'_ Chuck berated himself. _'It's not like she doesn't have enough things one her plate. What with being the only handler . . . handling me. Casey might be sick so she might have to get a new partner, we have to move in together, she has to pretend to be in a relationship with a less than stellar guy. Let's face it. I'm no Bryce Larkin or Cole Barker. I couldn't even match up to them if I wanted to. And now I have to mess it all up. I really can be a screw up sometimes.'_

There was Negative Chuck at it again. Lucky for him, Optimistic Chuck was never too far behind. _'But she did blush so she must have liked it. And I could take Bryce Larkin and Cole Barker on any day. Maybe not with guns or a suave, sophisticated charm but I do have a chivalrousness about me, I guess. Like walking old ladies across the street and paying attention to what she likes and doesn't like. If it came down to who knew Sarah Walker best, I would no doubt win that competition. That's what guys like me do when they get a girl out of their league. They learn everything they possibly can about them to the keep them happy, which in turn makes them happy.'_

Satisfied that his attitude has been turned around, Chuck decided to be bold and take it over to her rather than wait for her to show up. If she happened to go over to his house at the same time then Ellie had her phone to share. "Hey, Spencer," he said to the doorman as he made his way to the hotel lobby.

"Chuck," Spencer said with a curt nod and small smile as he opened the door for him. "Hot date with the lady tonight?"

"Just a cousin's birthday, nothing too serious." Chuck was a little more dressed up than usual. He was wearing dark blue jeans with a black pinstripe button-up shirt and leather jacket. He opted for a bit more dressy shoes than normal since these shoes had cool gelly soles in them because his feet hurt. His hair was more done than usual per Ellie's insistence. All she really did was put some gel through it and shake it up some. She always seemed to be able to make his hair look good somehow. That or it could be that he never really cared to try. He had a bit of a five o'clock shadow but that was just because he was too lazy to do anything about it. It's not like he was needing to impress anyone and it wasn't that bad. It kind of gave him a rugged look.

Chuck crossed through the lobby never noticing anyone stare. His mind went to other places and he was too nervous about screwing up. Sarah meeting Morgan's family was practically like meeting his own if he had one. He got in the elevator and pushed the button to Sarah's floor. As the door was almost closed a woman shouted, "Oh please hold that door!" Chuck threw his hand out to stop the closing door while simultaneously pushing the door open button. The doors stopped and spread open again, allowing the brunette lady to step in. "Oh, thank you so much. I forgot my purse in my room and I need it for dinner tonight."

Chuck smiled, "Sure. No worries."

"Most people don't try to catch the door, you know." She gave him a once over without him noticing and she let out a whistle. Internally of course. Why embarrass yourself? She leaned in and pressed the button to her needed floor after a moment of hesitation.

Chuck noted that the woman was going to the floor just above Sarah's. "Well, I'm not most people," he said with no hint of conceit as he looked over to the woman with a genuine smile. In that small glance, he was able to see that the woman was dressed to the nines. Her dress was flattering and her jewelry had a simple elegance but he thought she was wearing too much makeup. Sarah never needed much makeup to look ravishing. The bell rung indicating that the elevator was stopping at Sarah's floor. "This is my stop. Have a nice evening."

He rounded the corner and knocked three times on the door. He turned around and looked down the hall, snapping his finger in nervous excitement and let out a puff of air.

*************

Sarah was in the bathroom finishing the last touches on her makeup when she heard the knock. She took one last look in the mirror and shrugged nonchalantly at what she saw. _'It's acceptable.' _She went casually over to the door and looked through the peephole. Seeing Chuck with his back to her, she smiled and opened the door. "Hey, Chuck."

Chuck turned around when he heard the door opening. His forehead was crinkled while he was turning around but when he saw Sarah is face dropped and the corner of his mouth rose. _'Fake relationship or not, how did I get so lucky?'_ "Wow! You look . . . ," he shook his head while searching for the right word, " . . . fantastic and yet that doesn't seem like a good enough word."

Sarah shared a similar thought. Her eyes bugged out slightly when she opened the door but he didn't have a chance to notice her recovering since he was too captivated by her. She blushed in spite of herself. "Thanks, Chuck." He could always make her feel like the most beautiful girl in the room. She knew she was attractive but he seemed to make her feel so much more pretty than she ever felt. "You too." _'You too? That's original. How long did it take you to come up with that? He gives you a great compliment and you fall flat on your face. Good lord woman!' _

It seemed to be enough to cause Chuck to look down at himself and review his clothing while blushing. "Thanks. I picked it out myself but Ellie did the hair. Apparently she says she's much better at it than I am, which is true."

Sarah laughed and opened the door wider to make room for him to enter. "Come in," she said, "I just have to put my shoes on and we can go."

Chuck nodded closing the door, "Okay. Sorry if I was supposed to wait for you. You forgot your phone at Ellie's so I wasn't sure what the plan was."

"It's okay. I was ready anyway. I figured I'd just go back and get it later but you saved me a trip so thanks." She slipped her shoes on and grabbed a jacket. "Do you think you could carry it for me so I don't have to keep track of a purse?" It was just Morgan's house so Chuck shouldn't flash or anything. She had an extra gun in the car and her knives where the should be anyway.

"Ah, yeah. Anything else? No guns right?" She laughed as she handed him a small wallet and lip gloss. He smiled at her simplicity. Jill would have had his pockets full of her entire makeup kit. "Great. You ready to go?"

"Yep."

***********

Chuck and Sarah arrived to Bolonia's sister's, Elena, home. Ellie had been called in to work and Devon was hanging out with some of his frat buddies so it was just the two of pathway to the backyard was lit up by an archways of lights leading through the open gate. Chuck and Sarah walked hand in hand under the lights. They were only about fifteen minutes late. In some cases it would be considered fashionably late. "Is there anything I should know about tonight? Everyone keeps saying this is a night I will not soon forget. Should I be worried?" Sarah asked as they slowly meandered down the cobble path.

"Really?" Chuck started nervously, "Who says that?"

"Morgan, Ellie, you know the usual."

"Oh, um, no. They are probably just blowing it way out of proportion. Morgan's family can be a bit forward. You should have no trouble figuring out if they like you or not."

"Oh, okay. That doesn't seem so bad."

Once they passed the gate, beautiful rows of flowers and plants rested to the left and right of the path. Chuck noticed a nicely bloomed gardenia on the way and he casually pick the flower, never missing a step with Sarah. "Here. For you," he said handing it to her.

Sarah took the delicate flower from him with a smile and leaned in to smell it. She closed her eyes in bliss as the familiar scent washed over her. It was with a bit of a glow and a hint of a smile that Morgan's family first saw Sarah Walker. "Oh, look at that," Elena said, standing up from placing a bowl of food on the table. "Isn't she beautiful?"

Elena's comment caught the attention of Bolonia and Nadia. "Awww," they said together. "They are adorable!" Nadia finished. She always held a soft spot for Chuck, especially after he helped her all those years ago.

Morgan ran over to the couple as soon as they came in sight, "Hey, guys. Glad you could make it." Morgan gave Chuck a wink which perplexed Sarah even more. She was definitely out of the loop on something.

Some of the younger kids ran up to Chuck and gave him a big hug and tugged him towards different games. Chuck laughed and smiled. Sarah watched him walk away with some of the kids. _'He's gonna be a great dad one day.'_ Sarah felt a tug coming from lower on her dress and she looked down to see a little girl about four years old looking up at her. She smiled and knelt down to be at eye level with the girl, "Hi."

"Are you Chuckie's girlfriend?" she questioned.

Sarah smile became involuntarily wider as she replied, "I am Chuckie's girlfriend. My name is Sarah."

"Morgie already told us about you. But he didn't say you were so pretty."

Sarah laughed, "Oh well, you can tell everyone that you out do me by a mile."

The little girl's eyes lit up like a candle, "Really? I so pretty!"

"You are _so_ pretty!" she emphatically replied.

She grabbed Sarah's hand and started pulling her towards Chuck and the other kids and Sarah happily followed. Sarah was okay when it came to kids above the age of three because they could communicate. It's babies that scared the living day lights out of her. If she was able to kill men three times her size with her bare hands alone, she couldn't imagine what would happen with a fragile baby.

***********

Bolonia, Elena, Nadia and Isabel watched Sarah have her conversation with the youngest Grimes Family member, Sonia. They were close enough to hear what Sarah had said to Sonia. Isabel looked at the three ladies and said, "Sarah, by a long shot."

The other three bobbed their heads up and down in agreement. Of course they were comparing Sarah and Jill. Jill had been the only other girl to meet the family. Some of them were okay with her but no one really dug her. They really didn't care either way what happened. Some of them even thought it was a relief that he was out of that relationship.

***********

After being there for about a half hour, they were called to eat. The kids had their own tables set up so Chuck and Sarah were able to enjoy adult company for a while. The dinner was lovely and the company was grand. The night was filled with laughs and you could really feel the love. Sarah was sitting next to Chuck at the end of the bench (an easy escape if need be). She made comments here and there at first but Morgan's cousin's, mainly Nadia and Isabel, really got her involved in their conversation. "I think they are going to start the dancing soon," Isabel said, "Do you dance, Sarah?"

"Yeah, a little."

"Oh, good," Nadia said. "You're going to have tons of fun with this one," she pointed at Chuck.

He was involved in a conversation with Morgan and friends about Call of Duty and other various video games._'From one kind of kid to another.''_ Sarah looked over to Chuck and then back to Nadia, "With Chuck?" Sarah thought back to their first first date, "But he said he can't dance?"

The girls scoffed at Sarah's remark. "Don't let this boy fool you. He can lambada, he can salsa. He looks like a regular Fred Astaire when he waltzes-" Nadia said embellishing a spanish accent for the dance names.

"My favorite to watch is his foxtrot," Isabel interjected. "Have you guys never gone dancing?"

"Well, sort of. On our first date we went to a club but that's it." _'So is this the big secret? Is this what I'm missing?'_

"Girl, you are missing out," Isabel said.

"You know," Nadia said, "he actually learned to dance all of them in a week. My mother is a professional dance teacher so it was basically a rule in out house that we had to learn how to dance. A week before my dance competition one summer, my partner broke his leg in a water skiing accident. I was so mad, I locked myself in my room and I only came out when Chuck offered to be my substitute. At first I was reluctant because the man is clumsy. But when we practiced he caught on really quickly. He was like a whole different person. I know he only offered to stop me from being sad but we ended up coming in third place. I was just happy to be able to compete."

Sarah smiled at the story. She was both shocked to learn he could dance and unsurprised that he did it because it was just like Chuck to go out of his comfort zone to help someone he cared about. _'Why wouldn't he tell me he could dance? It could have saved a lot of trouble when Bryce came to town.'_ She looked at Chuck fondly while replying, "That sounds like my Chuck." She resisted the urge to reach out and brush the hair out of his eye.

Sarah didn't realize she added _my_ in front of Chuck but the girls sure did and they gave each other a knowing smile. They both really liked Sarah, especially much more than Jill. They felt that Chuck was able to act more like himself around Sarah. He always tried to be something he wasn't with Jill.

Elena stood and said, "Ladies and Gentlemen, it is time for this party to really get started." Hector, Elena's husband, stood and escorted his daughter Celeste to the dance floor. "Hector will start off with the traditional waltz and my Celeste's Chambelan, Quinn, will cut in. Once Quinn and Celeste start dancing, everyone will be invited to the floor."

All the guests stood circled around the dance floor. Morgan started the CD with classical waltz music. They stood watching the guest of honor and her father dance around the yard. Just after the chorus to the song hit, Quinn tapped on Hector's shoulder and asked to cut in. They guest stayed watching for a few moments longer before Nadia reached out and grabbed Chuck's hand while others started to litter the floor, "Come on, Chuckles. Time's a wastin'."

_'Oh, no. Not good, Chuck. So not good. What ever you do, don't fall down.'_ Chuck held his frame and moved to the beat of the music praying to the powers that be to get him out of this. _'And don't embarrass yourself in front of Sarah.'_

He was so concentrated on not loosing his footing he never noticed Sarah watching in rapt attention. Chuck easily lead Nadia around the floor and you could tell they had danced together before. He had grace and rhythm. He was really really good.

*********

Morgan and Bolonia stood on the outside watching the others move around the floor. "Mijo, you never told me she was so pretty!" Bolonia said, her eyes landing on Sarah. "Look at her watch him."

"Yeah, Sarah does that a lot. She's really great, Mom. It's like Chuck is finally pulling out the big guns to keep her around. You should have seen him yesterday after we went paint balling. It was awesome!"

"We have to help him keep this one."

"I agree," Morgan said. "Well, I'm going to go talk to her." Morgan cut his way through the crowd until he was standing next to Sarah. She acknowledged his presence with a glance but quickly went back to Chuck. "He's pretty good, ain't he?"

"Yeah," Sarah said. "Why wouldn't he tell me he could dance?"

"He doesn't think he is all that good. And Chuck isn't a boastful kind of guy. Did you see the painting he gave Celeste for her birthday?"

"Chuck paints?"

"I'll take that as a no. His mom taught him. He hasn't done it in a while. My aunt asked him to paint her a picture though. It's on the wall in Celeste's bedroom."

"I had no idea."

"He's really good at that too. Chuck is really good at a lot of things but you'd never guess it. I'm surprised he's never shown you. But you'll see soon enough."

"What do you mean?"

"Chuck told me you guys are going to get the stuff out of storage. All of his paintings and stuff are in there."

"Oh." Sarah was saddened that Chuck wouldn't have shared these things with her. It shouldn't bother her but it did. _'Why would he want to get rid of all of it?"_

Morgan left her to her thoughts before asking, "Wanna dance?"

"Sure." Sarah rested her hands on the shorter man and allowed him to lead her on the floor. He wasn't too bad, she noted. They were only able to complete a few turns before the song ended. Chuck quickly made his way off the floor and towards a seat. He saw Sarah with Morgan and thought she would enjoy a few more dances before they could go. She really liked dancing. Instead Sarah gave Morgan a hug and came to sit next to Chuck. They watched in silence as new couples paired off when the music started. After a moment, Sarah said, "You lied to me."

Chuck's eyes got really big as he looked at her, "What? When?"

Sarah continued in a mellow tone still watching the other dancers. "On our first 'first' date, you said you couldn't dance."

Chuck felt relief wash over him as the panic subsided. "Correction, I said I wasn't much of a dancer and I'm not really all that good."

"Chuck, you danced circles around those guys." She looked at him as he shrugged his shoulders, looking at his hands in his lap. "Why do you always do that?"

"Do what?"

"Put yourself down, minimalize the things that you've done, that you do."

Chuck shrugged again, still looking down. "I don't know. I guess I just don't think its important."

Sarah shook her head with a small smile. "You don't even realize how much you mean to people, do you?"

"I don't know." They fell silent for a while, watching the other dancers again. It was sort of mesmerizing to see them twist and turn. Chuck broke his trance and looked at Sarah, "Are you mad at me?"

Sarah chuckled, "No. I'm not mad."

"Good," Chuck said, standing and gaining eye contact with Sarah. He held out his hand to Sarah, "Would that mean you aren't opposed to a spin around the floor?"

"I thought you'd never ask," she said with a smile. Chuck gave her the Sarah Grin as he liked to call it since he only gave it to her. The music was in a transitional phase and switched to a movin' salsa beat. Morgan's family all started cheering loudly and whistling. Sarah leaned in to Chuck to ask, "What's going on?"

"Oh, Elena taught the family a choreographed dance to this song. It's kind of the highlight of these things. This is the Boot-scootin'-boogie to the Grimes family." Chuck swiveled in front of her and started walking backwards, pulling her by the hand, "Don't worry, just follow my lead."

They stayed and danced the night away. Sarah caught on to the choreography quickly. They laughed and had fun. It was really a night to remember. At one point when it was just Sarah and Chuck left on the dance floor, as everyone else had tired, they did a saucy lambada that had everyone cheering afterwards. Morgan and Ellie were right. Nothing short of memory loss would make her forget tonight. It was definitely in the top three of her favorite nights ever. Sarah knew she would never enjoy dancing as much as she did that night. Chuck was happy to see Sarah let loose and enjoy the time. She rarely ever let this side of herself come out. It was nights like this that made him really keep holding on to hope that the real Sarah Walker, or what ever her name really is, was buried down inside of her just waiting to come out.


	7. Chapter 7

Hey everyone. In this chapter we are going to learn more about Eve's condition. Normal disclaimer that I'm not a doctor so the medical stuff is mostly inaccurate. I say mostly because I sorta research it but not really . . . so there you go.

Special shout out to jagged1 since they were my 47th review and if you haven't quite yet deduced, it is my lucky number.

And to athenaebelle, I started wonderin about that after I reread the chapter and put in a special part just for it. Ironically the same day I read your review =) Same wavelength anyone? LOL

And to everyone, I think you are all awesome and I will personally address each one of you at some point =) Things have been kinda hectic. I've been playing part time mom to my niece and nephew who can be a handful but man are they cute!

Chapter Seven

The next morning took Eve along with her mother and Casey to the hospital to meet with Dr. Williams. Casey drove everyone in his Crown Vic since it was a smoother ride than the suburban. He pulled into the front to make it so that Eve didn't have as long of a walk. He opened the door and helped Eve into a wheelchair.

"Oh, come on, Uncle Casey. I'm not that much of an invalid," Eve protested. In truth she wanted the chair but she also didn't want to give up her independence. Well, the little of it she had left. A little bit of pain never hurt anyone. Besides, if she knew Uncle Casey like she did, then she knew he would make her take it anyway.

Casey just looked at her and simply stated, "While that may be so, they still don't let patients in or out unless riding in a wheelchair." Of course that mainly only applied to out but in any case, this would be better for Eve.

"Oh fine!" Eve said, internally relieved. "But I will walk out of here." True she didn't know when that would be but she decided to keep firmly believing that she would beat cancer the second time around just like the first time. _'This, of all things, will not be what kills me.'_

Casey assisted Eve into the chair that Trisha held steady. He let Trisha push so that she felt she was doing something in some way for Eve. Sometimes, the little things could make a person feel so much better and for Trisha to have something to do over waiting was a good thing. It kept her from becoming overly stressed about the situation and cause more problems for her.

As they started down the hall towards the research offices, Dr. Williams himself walked out of his office. He recognized Eve from the profile picture even if she did look quite significantly more haggard than when it was taken. "Evelyn. It's so nice to finally meet you," he said shaking her hand. He turned up to Trisha afterwards. "And you must be her mother, Trisha."

"Hello, Dr. Williams," Trisha said shaking his hand.

Dr. Williams looked over at Casey and offered his hand, "I'm sorry. I don't know who you are. I'm Dr. Frederick Williams."

John grunted and shook his hand, "John Casey."

"Pleased to meet you," he said and then resumed attention on Eve. She was old enough to have this conversation by herself and while Eve wanted her mother involved, that didn't mean choices would be left solely up to Trisha. "I just need to grab a few papers I printed out and we can get started. Why don't the three of you take a seat in my office and I'll be right in." As they nodded and started to leave he said, "Oh, Evelyn, is it alright if we have this conversation in front of Mr. Casey? I know about your mother but I have to have him on the approved list of people to talk to. Otherwise he will need to wait outside."

Eve looked at him with a smile, "Yes, please do add Uncle Casey. I'd tell him anyway. And you can call me Eve. Everyone else does." Eve liked this Dr. Williams. She could tell he was quite friendly over the phone but now having met him, he does seem genuine about it. Over the phone it was easy to fake sometimes. He was maybe fifty-five to sixty years old with salt and pepper hair. His brown eyes had a vibrancy to them that made you feel assured he knew what he was doing. He was an average height and slightly bulkier build.

"Alright, _Eve,_" he said teasingly, "I'll get him on record in your file when I get the paperwork." He walked off towards the reception desk.

Trisha pushed Eve to the office. Eve stayed in the wheelchair since there was only two seats across from the desk. Trisha pushed her in between the two chairs so Casey and she could sit on either side of Eve. Casey took time to look around the office to see what he could see. By the neatness of the desk, Casey could tell the doctor was a fastidious individual as there wasn't clutter. There was a lot of paperwork but it was organized in neat piles. The pictures along the back side of the desk where lined up in such a way that you could see all of them and they faced so you could see them while you worked, indicating that Dr. Williams did not feel he was above these individuals because his back was not towards them. Over on a small table by the window sat a collection of model cars. Casey was pleased to note that his famed Crown Victoria was amongst the classic collections. _'I'll be damned.'_

A few short moments later, Dr. Williams returned. When he walked in, he noted that Mr. Casey was looking around the room, or more specifically at his collection of toy cars. "Sorry about that. My printer is on the fritz so I had to send these to the receptionist's desk." He rounded the desk and came to sit across from his latest group of individuals. "I see you like the car collection, Mr. Casey. My grandson and I build one every weekend together. I only keep my favorites here. Do you have one you like?"

He grunted and shook his head causing Eve to laugh, "Hee hee hee. He wouldn't tell you this but I bet he likes that Crown Vic you have there." She nodded towards the car.

Dr. Williams was surprised by Eve. Most people that came in here were sad or angry and complained about their situations but Eve seemed content in her plight and still managed to find things to laugh about. Her body was more beat up than most But her eyes contained hope. As a doctor, the eyes always told you if someone wanted to live or if they've given up. It was always more difficult to try to treat patients if they didn't even believe they'd get better. Sometimes it was medically risky to have them undergo treatments such as these and truthfully he felt Eve was beyond the point where this treatment could work for her, especially considering she's already had cancer once before. At first he denied her access into the treatment. But Eve called and very diplomatically stated her case and effectively persuaded him into thinking this could work. He was still cautious and said that he'd make a final decision after he had seen her in person and ran a few tests. Meeting her now though, he really thought that she could beat this again. He senses an indomitable spirit within her. "Ah, a man of good taste, I see. You know, it's interesting, my grandson's name is John and that is also his favorite."

John nodded his head once but said nothing.

Mr. Casey obviously didn't talk very much and he presented an intimidation factor. It'd probably be best to remain on his good side regardless of if Dr. Williams didn't allow himself to get intimidated easily. He turned his attention to Eve, "So, how are you feeling, my dear?"

Eve laughed, "Oh, you know, like I could run a marathon. I think the March of Dimes is coming soon. I think I'll be up and at 'em by then."

"Wonderful! A patient with a sense of humor. We've been missing that around here," he said smiling. "But in all seriousness, how are you really doing? Any nausea or vomiting?"

Eve looked to her lap and shifted in unease, "Well, I didn't realize how hard it would be to go without any pain medication. My gums are pretty swollen and have some cuts and the blisters are looking better but my skin is quite tender still and it has cuts too but nothing unmanageable. I did throw up a little yesterday but Uncle Casey's friend, Grace, makes some really great tea for nausea so I haven't had much of that. I kind of get headaches every now and then but for the most part I really do think I'm in good shape."

Dr. Williams nodded, taking note of everything she said. "Can you describe the headaches? Would you say they are more like a cluster headache or a dull pain kind of headache?"

"I wouldn't say they are any worse than a migraine."

"Umhm," he said jotting down more notes, "Excellent. I'd like to start off with a few tests. We need to check on blood counts and make sure they aren't too different from when you had stopped your previous medications. I'd also like to get a bone marrow biopsy and aspiration. This way we can get a more conclusive picture of your hematopoietic process. It will also assist me with determining the amount of Arsenic Trioxide we can use in your system."

"Great," Eve nodded.

"Fabulous, I'll get Ethan to take you to get prepared for the tests while I show your mother and uncle where to wait. Our phlebotomy team can run the tests immediately so we should be able to get the results after a lunch break for you guys."

"Shouldn't one of us go with her?" Trisha asked. "To help her get changed and stuff?"

"That's up to Eve. Normally patients prefer to go by themselves. I assure you that Ethan is more than capable of assisting Eve."

"I'll be fine, Mom."

Trisha looked at her daughter and sighed. It was hard accepting the fact that your child was so independent and wanted to keep as much of it as possible. "Oh, alright. We'll wait for you."

Just then a knock came and a head poked itself into the room. "Are you ready for me, Dr. Williams?"

"Yes, Ethan. Come in." As Ethan drew closer in the room, Dr. Williams continued, "Ethan, I like you to meet Eve, Trisha, and Mr. Casey." He kept calling him Mr. Casey since he was never acquainted with him before as he had been with Eve and Trisha.

Eve turned to see the new comer. He was quite young, probably not much older than she was. He had sandy brown hair and vibrant green eyes. Most likely he was a military man since he held his posture as one would do in the military. She'd been around plenty enough to recognize when one was in a room. And his muscular build was nothing to be ashamed of. _'Oh _my,' Eve thought, '_He is cute!'_

John took note just as Eve did that this boy had experience in the military. It made him feel more at ease knowing someone like that would be assisting Eve around the hospital.

Ethan put out his hand, shaking Eve's and Trisha's first. "Ma'am," he said with a nod and then shook Casey's hand. "Sir."

Dr. Williams continued, "Ethan is a Corporal in the Marines. He carried one of his men three miles to an extraction point from the front lines in Iraq. Eve will be in good hands, Mrs. Fisher." Ethan's cheeks reddened at Dr. Williams comment but he stood in attention with no smile on his face, just as expected from a military man. Casey grunted in approval which seemed to calm Trisha. "Are you a military man, Mr. Casey?"

"Major John Casey, United States Air Force."

At the mention of his rank, Ethan saluted his superior officer. "Sir, I apologize, Sir. I was unaware of your background, Sir."

Casey saluted back, "At ease, soldier." He turned to Trisha, "Come on. Let's get out of the way."

***********

Ethan pushed Eve's wheelchair down the hall to an examination room. She couldn't have been much younger than him. Her blond hair was covered by a royal blue bandanna which he thought made her eyes shine like crystals. The clothing she wore was simple and comfortable. Even though you could tell she was sick, he still thought she was pretty. "So, Eve, is it?"

"Yep. That's me," she said. "Ethan?"

"That's me," he said. "Ethan Gallagher, pleased to meet you."

"Evelyn Fisher," she said putting her hand over her shoulder. "You forgot to mention Corporal Ethan Gallagher."

Ethan laughed, shaking her hand again, "Well, I don't really go by that anymore. I'm semi-retired from the Marines. Dr. Williams likes to tell that story so people worry less. I guess they find military guys acceptable as attendants."

"So it was just a story then?"

Ethan cleared his throat, "Oh, um, no. It's true, it's just that I don't really like talking about that stuff. That particular story happened a long time ago so . . ."

"Well, you got Uncle Casey's grunt of approval so you're alright with me."

"Oh. He's your uncle? They don't normally let uncle's in. I thought he was your father."

"No, just an uncle," she said somberly thinking about her father and wishing he were here. Eve lightened up as she continued, "Technically that's not even true. He was my dad's best friend. They were like brothers so I started calling him Uncle. At first it was just to piss him off. I thought the big vein in his head would pop but then it grew on him or he just stopped caring." Eve's brow furrowed as she contemplated which it could be, "You know, I'm not really sure which it is."

Ethan laughed a little at her comment and took note of her reaction about her father. _'Probably not a good idea bringing up her dad.'_ He pushed in silence for a while. Eve's name sounded really familiar from somewhere. He just couldn't pinpoint it. It was almost like he'd read it somewhere before . . . _'Oh, that letter Erin sent me. I wonder if this is that Eve Fisher? . . .'_ He grunted questioningly, "Hum?"

Eve looked up at him, "What's that?"

"What?" he said looking down, "Oh, nothing. I was just thinking . . ."

"Yes?"

"No, no. Its nothing," Ethan shook his head, "I shouldn't ask."

"Its fine. You can ask."

Ethan stayed quite for a moment. "Well, are you. . . are you that Eve Fisher that won that gymnastics competition back in 2003? The one that was the shoe in for the Olympic team?"

"Oh," Eve said quietly, saddened at the memory. "Yeah, that's me." Of all things she missed not being able to do with cancer, that had to be the one she missed the most.

When Eve fell silent, Ethan apologized, "I'm sorry. I knew I shouldn't have asked-"

"Its okay. I told you to," Eve tried switching to a positive view, "Besides, I shouldn't be sad about it. I rocked that competition."

"Yeah. My sister sent me some video while I was in Iraq. You were awesome."

"Thanks." They fell into a companionable silence for a while. The only sound was Ethan's shoes scuffing the floor every so often and the wheels on the ground. "I won again in '07 too."

"Oh yeah," Ethan said excitedly, "Erin, my sister, she told me about that. I'm sorry I didn't get to see any of it."

"No worries, I won't hold it against you." Eve continued playfully, "But I will make you watch it over and over and over again."

"Oh, please, no. I couldn't stand the torture," Ethan laughed, "Just kidding. I liked watching you compete." He blushed profusely at his admission.

"Thanks. I really loved it."

They arrived to the treatment room. "Well, here we are. Would you like any help changing or getting on the bed?" He slipped from a guy talking to a girl mode into a nurse assisting his patient mode.

"Ah, you know, I think I got. But thanks." Eve tried to push herself up but winced in pain. "Well, maybe you could help me up? I'm fine once I get going . . . usually."

"Sure," Ethan stood in front of her, accessing what the best way to help was. "Why don't you put your arms around my neck and I'll stand you up?"

"Um, okay." Eve hugged Ethan tightly around his neck. Without touching her, he bent at the knees and pushed to a standing position. Eve was light but he went slowly so he didn't shock her skin as they stood. Eve took in a sharp breath upon standing on her own.

"You okay?" Ethan asked concerned. Eve nodded her head and took a few steps to get mobility back. Ethan watched her eyes get puffy and red as she held back tears. She sniffled once and he thought for sure she would break. "Are you sure you don't need any help changing?"

Eve considered her options for a moment. If he was to be her helper then at some point he would see the burns anyway but that didn't change the fact that she was embarrassed by them. Here he had what was sure to be a beautiful physique and hers was, for lack of a better word, gross. _'Well maybe he's seen worse?'_ Eve said, "Well, maybe with my shirt? I'm not sure I can get it over my head."

"Okay. Bend a little at your waist." Eve did as she was told. Ethan put his hands on the hem of her shirt and eased it upwards, "That's it, Eve. We're doing good." Being respectful of her privacy, he held out the hospital gown and turned his head away. It's one thing doing this with regular patients, it was quite another helping someone you like.

Eve got the gown up over her shoulders and turned around. "Okay, I'm decent. Could you tie the back for me?"

"Of course," Ethan said. As she turned her back towards him, he saw the gruesome cuts atop reddened, blistered skin and silently winced for her._ 'I've never seen them look like that.'_ He quickly tied off the gown. "There you go. Let's get you on the bed." He assisted Eve to a laying position. "If you don't mind, I can pull your pants down . . ." he trailed off with a strange expression and blush creeping over his cheeks again. "That's doesn't sound right-"

Eve laughed, "It's okay. I know what you meant."

"Right, well, good," he said awkwardly. He gently helped Eve remove her pants. He folded them and rested them with her shirt, and then cleared his throat. "Okay. I'm gonna get the kit." He did an about face and left the room.

***********

Dr. Williams led Trisha and John to the waiting room. "We have coffee and water. There are vending machines around the corner and through the doors in the ER."

"Thank you. I'm going to get some water. Do you want some?" Trisha asked. John shook his head as Trisha walked away, leaving the men standing alone.

Casey's expression was hard to read. On the outside it was seemingly calm but the tone with which he spoke said something completely different. "Dr. Williams, what ever gave you the asinine idea to use Arsenic to treat cancer? Don't you know that stuff is poisonous?"

Dr. Williams responded calmly. He wasn't unused to people wondering about that, "Major Casey, I was not the one to come up with the treatment, even though westernized medicine is trying to give the credit to me. The use of Arsenic Trioxide to combat cancer has long been used in traditional Chinese Medicine called Pi Shuang. The FDA has only approved it's use on certain cancers but for the particular one your niece has it's effectiveness has yet to be examined. The way I'm administering the drug is what's the difference."

"I don't like it."

"Well, Major Casey, you are entitled to your opinion but I believe in the treatment. It worked for me when I was being treated in China and I firmly believe that my research as to how to administer it is going to help cancer patients survive and live long healthy lives."

Casey growled. "Mark my words. If you overdose my niece, I will end you." And with that he walked away towards Trisha.

Dr. Williams watched him leave. Yes, that man could be intimidating but it wasn't hard to understand his feelings. Dr. Williams shrugged off Major Casey's comment but he knew that it would always be in the back of his mind and Dr. Williams had no doubts about Major Casey's ability to follow through.

**********

Trisha and John sat in the waiting room for forty-five minutes before Dr. Williams emerged from the back, having finished taking Eve's tests. "Alright, Eve is resting right now. There was no trouble taking the tests and the samples have been sent to the lab. You're welcome to wait in her room or you can get something to eat and bring it back."

"I'd like to sit with Eve for a while, please," Trisha said.

"Of course. Right this way." Dr. Williams led them down a hall and stopped at the last door on the right. "Here you are. I'll be in my office reviewing other tests and I'll be in touch. I'd recommend getting something to eat while she is asleep. Sometimes having food in the room causes a patient to get nauseated."

"Thank you, Doctor." Trisha sat in the chair next to Eve's bed and reached to hold her hand. The sound of the door closing was the only sound that had permeated the room for a good five minutes. Trisha's gaze never left Eve's sleeping form as she said, "Oh, John, I really hope this works."

Casey walked to the opposite side of the bed and gently brushed away Eve's hair from her eyes. "You and me both."

************

A few hours later, Ethan knocked quietly on Eve's door. Noting that Eve was still asleep, he whispered, "The test results are back. If you could let Dr. Williams know when she wakes up he'll go over them with you, Ma'am, Sir."

"Thank you, Ethan," Trisha said with tears in her eyes.

"Is there anything I can get you? Water, coffee?"

Trisha shook her head and rubbed her cheek against Eve's hand. _'This is it, Eve. The moment of truth. All you have to do is wake up and we can know what's gonna happen.'_ Trisha always found it hard when Eve would go to sleep. She was always scared that Eve wouldn't wake up again. And everyday that passed, with how tired Eve was looking, Trisha's fear only grew.

***********

It was well after five when Eve woke up. She felt a hand over top hers and assumed it must be her mother, "Hmm, Mom?" Her voice was raspy with sleep but Trisha released a sigh of relief. John silently stood and walked out of the room to get the doctor. Eve swallowed a few times to moisten her throat. "Do they have the results back?"

"Yes, baby. They have the results back. John just left to get Dr. Williams. We've been waiting for you to wake up."

Eve nodded. "How long was I asleep? What time is it?"

"It's five twenty."

"Oh. So a long time. I musta been tired."

John came back in with Dr. Williams in tow. "Eve," he said, "It's good to see you. We have your results back."

Eve blinked and squinted at him, "And?"

"Well, there is good news and bad news. The good news is that none of your blood counts have changed since the last time they were taken which is promising considering having had no medication used the past couple days. The bad new is that it means your counts are still on the higher end for more risk. I'm willing to test out the treatment for a couple weeks but we are going to need to stop radiation therapy. Your skin needs time to heal itself. It's been quite some time since I've seen burns and blisters to the extent of you have. I'm surprised your doctors in Seattle didn't stop and try alternative means. That neither here nor there but as of now, if your up for it, the game plan is to start you in on the Arsenic over the course of the next week, gradually increasing in dosage so your system doesn't get a shock. Afterwards we're going to start you in on Chemotherapy and see if the treatment hasn't helped it become more effective."

"Great. I get to loose my hair again. Fabulous," Eve deadpanned.

Dr. Williams smiled bitterly, "Yes, well, that is an unfortunate side effect. Eve, I want to caution you. You're in stage three, bordering on stage four cancer. I'm not certain what this is going to do for you. It may not be as effective as you'd hope. I only want to go down this road for maybe two weeks before we look into other options."

"What other options are there?" Trisha asked, concerned.

"There is the option of a bone marrow transplant. Have you been tested to see if you are a match?"

"Well, yes, but Eve was adopted so that didn't pan out."

"I see. Well, we can put her back on the transplant list but that can take months. I'm not sure we have that much time. It's faster if there is an immediate family member-"

"There is no one," Eve said shortly. "My biological mother died when I was seven and I don't know who my biological father is. The name on my birth certificate is wrong."

"Alright," Dr. Williams said. That was the most abrupt he'd ever heard her speak. It was a little out of character for her which mean apparently it wasn't a good situation. "I'll get your name on the list and see what I can do to speed the process along. Maybe we'll get lucky and the treatment will do as it's supposed to. I'll leave you folks to talk it over."

As Dr. Williams turned to walk out the door, Eve called to him, "Hey, doc?" He looked back to his patient expectantly. "Do me a favor? Treat me like I'm going to live, okay? This isn't going to be what kills me. I've promised myself that and I'd like it if you did everything you could to help me keep my promise."

Dr. Williams nodded his head with a slight smile. _'Such a persistent child. I'm not sure she understands how deep she is really in with this disease.'_ "Alright, Eve. I'll try my best to be optimistic. It helps that you are." He left the room of his newest patient.

*********

Chuck awoke the next morning alone in his bed. Sarah decided to stay at her place under the guise that she needed to pack in the morning. Chuck got a few days off from work to get the apartment ready for them to move in. They were going to paint tonight. They choose a dark cherry color for the walls with an avant cherry wood trim. They had to go over in the afternoon to take down the wall paper the Jensen's had left up. Chuck changed into grungy clothes and got to work packing up his room.

**********

Sarah awoke in her hotel room after only a few hours of sleep. Last night had been so much fun that she couldn't get herself to fall asleep. She stayed up packing, convincing herself that it was the real reason she was still awake, even if her thoughts kept turning to a nerd and replaying last night over and over. She told herself it was only natural to think about him. He was in her charge after all but her thoughts about him and towards him have changed over the course of the past few months and that's the trouble. At first she only indulged in feeling for him or thinking about him in an unprofessional manner every once in a while, telling herself she could control it. She was a trained spy for heaven's sake. Now it's like she's addicted to it. The harder she tries not to think about it the more prominent he is in her thoughts.

_'I can't believe he can dance. And he is _good._ Much much better than Bryce. But it's like Morgan said, he's good at lots of stuff that he doesn't say. I'm only now beginning to realize how much stuff is involved.'_ Sarah shook her head in a vain attempt to clear her thoughts. On the bed rested the few boxes of clothes she had, her gun cases and knife sets,_ 'Better take those in myself.'_ and the last box had her violin in the bottom with the few pictures of her and Chuck together on top, hiding it, and some resistance bands for exercise. _'Okay, so, what am I missing? Nothing. Well, Ellie is gonna think something is up. I should have moved more stuff from DC, right? That's what normal people do?' _Sarah shrugged her shoulders,_ 'Oh well. I've lived in a hotel. How much stuff could I really have?'_

Sarah made a few trips out to her car to put the boxes in. Ellie said they could use her car to get the kick boxing equipment and small selection of weights but those wouldn't be moved until later.

*********

Spencer noted Sarah bringing out boxes of stuff and readily opened the door for her. He knew she liked to do things for herself but still, it was his job. She always seemed to understand after he said that. "Miss Walker, if you'd like to pull your car to the front, I'll watch it while you get the rest of your things."

"Oh, thanks, Spencer but I don't have all that much," Sarah said friendly.

"I insist. I know you are a quite capable woman but you should cut yourself some slack every now and again. Over stressing yourself isn't good for the heart." Spencer liked Sarah. At first, she was cold and distant but ever since that nice boy Chuck started coming around, she's really changed. She had probably lived here for a good three months before he ever saw her smile and that was at something Chuck said to her. She was pretty before she smiled, but man almighty, after it was like gray clouds would part and the sun would shine.

Sarah sighed with a smile, "Well, if you insist." She liked Spencer. He kept to himself and didn't ask personal questions. The two were about as close as you should be to a staff member which isn't very close. She walked out to her car and put the two boxes she was carrying in and drove around to the front.

Spencer smiled, "I'm surprised Chuck isn't here helping."

"Oh, well, I wasn't actually supposed to move this stuff today. I don't have to be out until Friday."

Spencer let out a small chuckle, "Miss Walker, you do realize it's only Monday right?"

Sarah shrugged as her cheeks reddened, "I know. I guess I'm just excited." She only said it to protect the cover. Who wouldn't be happy about moving in with their boyfriend of almost two years under normal circumstances? After having voiced it though, she found herself to be truly excited. As much as she should just think of this as another place she was staying, she couldn't help but feel like it would finally be home. Sarah's smile widened at the thought. _'Home.'_

Spencer watched Sarah in thought. He really was happy for her. In all his time working here, he's never seen such a couple as Chuck and Sarah. They were opposites yet they were so alike too. "You remind me of when I first moved in with my wife. I was so excited I could hardly contain it. I still get excited to go home and we've been together for thirty-five years," he said with a large smile.

Sarah smiled back, impressed by the longevity of the relationship. She's never known one to last longer than a few years, if that even. "Wow, that's a long time. You never get sick of each other?"

"Oh, of course you get sick of each other. That's how life works but at the end of the day, there is no one who I would rather spend my time with,`whether it be doing exciting, adventurous things or boring, lame things. You know, things like true love happen only once in a lifetime and it's a rare find. You should hold on to it through all obstacles."

Sarah nodded her head, filing away his advice for later but choosing not to think about it too much for the time being. His comment hit a little too close to home. "Well, I'd better get the rest of my stuff. Lots to do, little time to do it."

By the time it was all said and done, Sarah only had a small bag of clothes, some toiletries, and her workout equipment left in the room. She looked around the room and noted that it wasn't much more barren than when she started. Sarah looked at the clock Chuck had given her. It was only ten thirty. They had decided to meet at the apartment at noon to get started on the wallpaper removal and vacuuming the new carpets and stuff.

Sarah decided to drive to the local hardware store and pick up the needed equipment to get the wallpaper off and get an early start at the apartment. It would pass the time.

**********

Chuck packed some of his stuff for a while before getting bored. It wasn't that he wasn't looking forward to moving in with Sarah, it's just that he wished that the CIA or the NSA did all the packing and moving but that would be too suspicious for Ellie and Devon. As it was they were already delivering all the furniture Wednesday. Sarah told him what she and Ellie shopped for on the way to Celeste's party and he said that it would be okay. She was going to show him tomorrow if they had time. There was a few things left to get still but all in all the big stuff was chosen. Some of it he would have to put together but he didn't mind.

Chuck looked at his clock. Ten fifty-three. He decided to go grab some food for them. It would only be a short walk. It should take about thirty minutes and then he could start putting together what they would need for the wallpaper.

***********

Walking back from the shop, Chuck noticed Sarah's car already there. He looked down at his watch that said it was eleven twenty. _'We said noon, right? . . . I hope.'_ He went to their apartment instead of Ellie's and looked through the window. Sarah was inside setting up a table with a bucket and what looked to be a paint roller but it wasn't paint in the bucket. She set newspapers down around the base of the table and up against the walls, taping them in place at the bottom.

He took a few moments to observe her. Her face was calm but he could still hear the gears rolling around in her head as she went about laying the newspapers, listening to music on the radio in the corner. She hair was up in a messy bun and she wore a headband to keep her bangs out of her eyes. She was wearing blue cutoff shorts with a white tank top and her Orange Orange Converse shoes that Chuck had gotten her. He'd been out with Ellie when she called to tell him about the new cover and when he saw the orange shoes, he couldn't resist getting them for her. Plus it was a very boyfriend thing to do and it made Ellie happy.

Chuck pushed the door open . . .

*********

Sarah started setting things up around the apartment for that afternoon. Chuck should be there in about forty five minutes so they could get started right away. She bought a stereo so they could have some music while they worked. Currently it was set on a classical music station. When she started switching through, it landed on a Bach concerto. Bach had always been one of her favorite composers so regardless of what it was, she always tried to listen until the end.

Out of the corner of her eye, Sarah noted Chuck watching her and fought against smiling. He tried so hard to startle her sometimes, all in fun of course, but most of the time she could hear him coming although he was getting more stealthy.

When she heard the door open she said, "Hey, Chuck."

"Hi," Chuck said nervously. "Um, hey, we did say noon right? I'm not late?"

"No, I was early," Sarah said, eying the coffee and paper sack Chuck was holding. "Gotta date?"

"What?" Sarah only pointed to the items in his hands. Chuck shrugged and decided to play along, "Oh, these. Yes, I do. It's the weirdest thing. She has a bizarre love for chocolate croissants. I will never understand it."

Sarah laughed, "I take it you were early too."

"Yeah," Chuck smiled, "I even walked really slowly to the bakery to kill time but I still ended up early."

"Well ya killed it," Sarah said, pounding her her fist into her hand, "Dead and buried . . . just not enough of it."

Chuck let out a slight laugh, "Oh, so you're a cannibal now?"

"What?"

"On our first first date, I was torn between cannibal and not that funny," he said weighing the cups and bag as if they were on a scale between his hands.

"Oh, right." Sarah smiled, "Nope. I've just been around a surprisingly funny guy for a while. It was bound to rub off a little at some point." Sarah walked up to Chuck and took the drinks from him. "I got the stuff we needed to get the wall paper off. Supposedly it will make it really easy to come off."

"Awesome," he said following her into the apartment. He put the bag of goodies on the bar next to the sink and pulled out a croissant for Sarah and a bagel for himself. "So have you decided on the plan of attack or what?"

"Well, luckily it's only the one room their baby was in so I don't think it really matters. If this stuff works as it supposed to then I'd imagine it'd only take a couple hours. Ellie and Devon said they'd meet us at one or so to help."

"Okay. I see you've already put down newspaper for when we paint. That was a good idea."

"I've been known to have them sometimes," she said with a shrug and a smile. "Not all blonds are shining lighthouses in the bay of stupidity."`Sarah picked up the bucket and walked towards the bedroom.

Chuck laughed as he followed her, eager to get started on _their _home.

************

Chuck and Sarah had been working in the room for over an hour. They weren't even close to being done. "Oh my God! This is ridiculous," Sarah said after falling over from pulling a long strip off the wall. Removing wallpaper was much more difficult than it should be. Or at least, more than she realized it would be.

Chuck laughed and helped Sarah to her feet. She was normally much more graceful so it was funny to see her fall because of wallpaper. "Well, at least we'll have great memories. Remind me never to use wallpaper, ever. Could you imagine what they went through getting it up?"

Sarah scoffed, "No, and I don't want to."

Chuck looked to the bucket. Their removing solution was almost gone. "I'll go make some more of this stuff. As hard as it is now, I couldn't imagine what it would be like without it. Would you like some water?" Chuck asked, picking up the bucket and walking to the door.

"Sure," Sarah said looking around the room at how much they had left. _'So much for a couple of hours . . .'_

Chuck was out in the kitchen and found the solution Sarah purchased. He read over the instructions and looked at the ingredients. Essentially, it was vinegar and water mixed together. All it said to do was mix two cup fulls with warm water. Chuck started filling the bucket with water and rinsed out his coffee cup from that morning to use to measure the solution. Realizing that if Sarah had done as the instructions said, there should be less solution than what there was, Chuck called out, "Sarah?"

She came out from the hallway. "Yeah, Chuck?"

He raised the solution up to her and asked, "How much of this stuff did you use?"

"Two cap fulls. Why?"

"Oh, Sarah," Chuck laughed.

"What?"

"Cup fulls. Its two _cup_ fulls not cap fulls," he said filling the cup and adding the solution to the water.

Sarah shifted uncomfortably as she replied, "Oh, um, whoops. The lady at the store said cap fulls and you distracted me with breakfast so I didn't think to look."

He spun the cap back on the bottle. "What was it that you were saying about blonds and lighthouses in bay's of stupidity or what ever?" he said teasingly walking around the counter to hand her a bottle of water.

"Hey. Don't make fun of me, Bartowski," she said snatching the bottle out of his hand with a fake frown. She knew he was only teasing her and while her mistake was embarrassing to say the least, he wasn't being rude about it.

Chuck put his hand over his heart, replying in a sarcastic manner, "Oh, I would never dream of making fun of Sarah Walker."

"Hmm, you better watch it buddy. I know where you sleep," she said taking a sip.

Watching Sarah take a drink of water, he realized how thirsty he was but the first bottle was already gone and Sarah only brought two. "Can I have a drink of your water?"

Sarah's face lit up playfully as she said, "Absolutely not. You cannot make fun of me and then ask me for my drink. Huh uh, nope. Not gonna happen."

Chuck replied in the same fashion as Sarah, "Give me the drink, Sarah." He reached in to grab it and she spun and held out her arm away from him.

"No."

"Sarah-" Chuck said trying again.

Sarah spun again, this time bringing herself closer to the bottle and taking a sip while keeping her eye on Chuck and dodging his attempts to grab it. She stopped drinking when he reached in to poke her stomach. "Chuck, no. What are you doing? Chuck!" He didn't answer as he stepped in and circled his arms around her waist, picking her up off the ground. He tried to tickle her but she was able to squirm just enough to keep him from accomplishing it.

Ellie and Devon walked in to see the both of them laughing and giggling in a tussle, causing both to smile. They've never seen them act like this around each other. It was refreshing. "Hey guys."

Chuck and Sarah took notice of the new occupants in the room. Chuck released his grip on Sarah as he replied, "Hey. What's up?" His cheeks reddened in embarrassment as he took a few steps away from Sarah.

Ellie shook her head. There was nothing wrong with PDA but Chuck can't get that through his thick head. "Nothing. How far did you get with the wallpaper?"

"Not far because _someone_ doesn't know how to read directions," Chuck said looking at Sarah.

"Uh. Well, if _someone_ wouldn't be so distracting, I would have reviewed them."

Devon laughed, "Awesome. Getting the house broken in I see."

"Devon!" Ellie admonished with a smile. Deciding it would be safest to change the subject, she said, "Why don't Devon and I start painting while you guys finish up the room?"

"Sounds good," Sarah said. "Maybe the genius will have made it easier for us."

"Yep, yep, we know who the brains of this operation is," Chuck said with fake smugness, because really, he wouldn't be here today if it weren't for Sarah. She was really the brains. He grabbed the bucket off the counter and walked down the hall.

"And aren't we all just so lucky that you aren't the brawn?" Sarah quipped following Chuck down the hall back to the bedroom.

"Ain't that the truth."

Ellie and Devon laughed at the retreating figures. It was good to see them acting like a couple. Sometimes Ellie felt that they were always just about to the couple realm but never quite there even if you could tell they both wanted to be. She doesn't understand what holds them back. The two of them complemented each other nicely. But having them move in together was a good sign they were trying to overcome it.

************

With the solution having been made correctly, it was much easier to get the paper off but still hard. But in the time it took them to do the first third of the room, they were able to complete the rest in almost half of that. Right now, they were going through and cleaning off the walls, making sure all the glue residue was gone and noting where cuts had been made in the drywall and needed repair. "So I was thinking," Sarah said washing the rag around the base of the wall, "do you remember when we went on that mission to the art auction and Casey tricked you into learning the Tango?"

"Oh, yes. Lociudad. How could I forget?" Chuck said drenching his rag in the bucket yet again. Ringing it out and then scrubbing the wall some more. "What about it?"

"How come you had to learn it? Wouldn't you have already known it?"

"Ah, no," Chuck said resuming washing the walls. "I only learned the dances Nadia needed me to learn and then I never really danced much after that. Some school dances and plays and stuff but nothing like what I did with Nadia so I never learned to Tango." Chuck changed to a more melodramatic tone as he continued, "But thanks for bringing that up see, cause now I get to remember how Devon taught me in a bath robe which if that wasn't disturbing enough I ended up tangoing with a killer, being tortured, surrounded by gunfire, and almost thrown off a balcony tied to a chair. Yeah, great night."

Sarah laughed, "Devon taught you in a bath robe?"

"Oh yeah but he was almost completely naked beforehand so thank God it wasn't like that. And he taught me the girls part."

"Really?" Sarah glanced playfully at Chuck, "Wanna show me? I've kind of always liked leading."

Chuck rolled his eyes, "No thanks. I've sworn off the tango." He flicked some water at her with a smile.

***********

An hour later found Chuck and Sarah sitting side by side against the wall. They finished cleaning and filling in the holes in the wall. They just needed to wait for the plaster to dry so they could sand it down and paint the room. "I am so glad we are done with this room. Who would have thought it would be so much effort to get that stuff off. We should have made the NSA do it."

Sarah stretched out her legs in front of her. "But that would have been far too suspicious. Besides, what would Casey think?"

"He'd probably just grumble something about wasting tax dollars and throw some insults in for good measure."

"Yeah."

They both stayed quiet for a few moments. They hadn't really brought up their suspicions about Casey with each other yet. Sure they talked about it a little but they have yet to full out discuss it. "So," Chuck said, "do you really think Casey is sick?"

"I don't know, Chuck. I think we would have noticed something on the last mission if he are both fairly astute individuals. It's pretty strange though because I haven't been able to reach Beckman to give status reports. I know we aren't going on missions but she said that you would still look through security footage and stuff like that. Something is definitely going on."

Chuck nodded. "What do you think that means? Will I have to . . . " he dropped his voice and looked at the door, "leave?"

"Chuck, I would never let that happen," Sarah said. "It's my job to protect you by any means necessary."

"I know. It's just hard knowing that my future depends on what she decides. That in most ways, I will not get a say in what happens to me. I have no control."

Sarah sighed and looked at Chuck sadly. She reached her hand up and brushed away some of his hair. "I know," she said almost reverently causing Chuck to look over at her. She offered him a tight lipped smile that he returns. "I wish it could be different for you, that I could tell you something to make you feel better but I'm just not good at this stuff." Sarah understood what he was feeling. It was like that most of the time with her father. She could finally start to like a place and he would pick up and leave, dragging her along with him. She didn't have a say, she didn't have a choice. In a way, she sort of had a kinship with Chuck.

"I know." Chuck patted Sarah on the leg, "For the record, having you here makes it easier. I know I can count on you."

Sarah smile became more genuine, "Thanks, Chuck." She gets caught up in looking into his eyes which makes changes her thoughts to time, effectively breaking the spell Chuck Bartowski has over her. She shrugged her shoulders and looked at his hand on her thigh, enjoying having it there much more than she should. "Besides, Beckman wouldn't have us go through all this just to take you away." She waived her hand around the room. It was true though. Why would she have them move in together if she was just going to take him away anyway? "Although I can see it as her version of cruel and usual punishment."

Chuck laughs, grateful that the intense moment passed. Sarah really was getting better with joking around some. "Well," he said moving to a standing position, "we better go help Devon and Ellie or we'll never get out of here." Chuck reached out his hands to Sarah and he pulled her to her feet. They walk to the front room side by side to see the room almost completed and the two were brushing quickly as if they were trying to see who could finish faster. Chuck kept looking on as he whispered over to Sarah, "My money's on Devon."

"Deal," Sarah said still watching as she stuck out her hand for Chuck to shake.

Ellie's and Devon's arms were moving at a frantic pace. They chose not to acknowledge Chuck and Sarah's entrance so they didn't break concentration. As a couple, they were probably one of the most competitive ones around. Not necessarily against each other. When they did things like this, they were still genuinely happy if the other won but when it came to team games at work parties, Ellie and Devon were unbeatable. It was really a sight to see. Devon was really close to finishing when Chuck shouted excitedly, "Come on, Devon."

"Shut up, Chuck," he said, causing him to break his movement just a little.

Which was just enough for Ellie to sneak in with the win. "Yes! I win," she exclaimed dropping her roller in the pan. She laid on her back on the floor taking deep breaths with her arms spread out to the side. "Whew!"

"Yes!" Sarah spun around on Chuck, pointing her finger at him, "Did you really think it wise to bet against your sister? Who owes who a candy bar now?"

"Devon, what happened man? You were so close."

Devon knelt to the floor and gave Ellie a kiss, "Good job, Babe. Exploiting a weakness works every time." He stood up and turned to Chuck, "As for you. You cost me a win!"

"Hey, woh, Devon," Chuck said putting his hands out in defense. "I didn't need a response. You coulda kept going."

Devon smiled a large grin and said, "I know. I was just teasing."

Ellie, Chuck, and Sarah laughed with Devon. "Thank goodness. I mean, wow. I thought you were really mad. But hey, it looks like you guys have this room well in hand." He turned to Sarah as he backed out of the room, "So, Sarah, ready to get started on the bedroom?" They decided it would be best to do the rooms that needed the painting done immediately like the living room and the bedroom. Things were going to be moved in there soon so they wanted it dry by Wednesday when the movers brought it in.

"How about we order some pizza first?" Ellie suggested. "I'm getting kind of hungry."

"That's a good idea, babe." Devon said, "What do you guys want?"

"I'm good with anything," Chuck said, "But be sure to get a vegetarian with no olives for Sarah."

"Oh, right," Ellie said, "I forgot you don't like olives."

"No problem. I know most people seem to like them."

*************

After they had a dinner break, the couples decided to have another race but this time between the couples. Chuck and Sarah had finished everything but the ceiling in the bedroom and Ellie and Devon finished almost everything in the kitchen/dining room. They were going to race on two of the rooms to see who would finish first. They bet a date night of the winning couples choosing that the losing couple had to pay for.

Both teams worked hard and it was a really close fight but the winners were Ellie and Devon. Had it not been for Chuck tripping on the way out it would have been them but such is the way things go. Now they have to endure what ever date Ellie and Devon can come up with.

Deciding they had had enough of painting for the day, they went back to Ellie and Devon's to watch a movie. Chuck and Sarah fell asleep tangled on the couch after having to 'fake' cuddle in front of the other two. It was a tight space but they were too comfortable to complain. Sarah was really tired from lack of sleep the night before and a full day of work, while Chuck was just grateful to spend anytime he could with Sarah in any capacity. This had to be one of his favorites though.

*************

And that's it for now. Next Chapter is when Beckman comes to town . . . hopefully with a big surprise.


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: Hey guys! So I'm going to take a moment to let you in on my opinion of the General. Most people seem to portray her as uncaring or whatever but I think that she is in a position of authority and it is her job in such a position to think of the many and not the one so she acts in accordance to that. I think that she is detached enough all the time from Chuck not to have the Bartowski charm work its magic. On paper, our awesome friend Chuck really does come across as a chump when you don't really know what happened. Its different when you get to see what a person is like day in and day out. I have what I hope you guys will find as a cool conversation between Chuck and Beckman coming up (not this chapter but with in the next couple or so) where they come to an understanding. She is going to interact differently with Eve. That being said, I am still trying to keep her true to her character. Let me know if I at all fail . . .

Oh, and before people mention this, I think it is ok if people know about Casey's background in the military. It's his association with the NSA that is a secret. There are tons of service men and women out there and their services should be recognized and honored.

As always, thanks for reading and if you feel like dropping a review, I'd appreciate it =)

Chapter Eight

General Diane Beckman was able to tie up all the loose ends for a while and attend all the necessary meetings for the time being and was now on her way to spend a little personal time with her favorite grandchild. Well, her only grandchild but that just means Eve is the uncontested favorite. When David had told her they were adopting a girl so soon after Trisha lost their baby, she thought for sure that, one, it was far too soon after such an incident to be able to make the wisest decisions in regards to adoption and two, it would be a baby. She had been surprised to say the least when it turned out David and Trisha were going through the adoption process for an eight year old girl.

Diane hadn't been happy with her son being so adamant about making her a grandmother but even she has to admit that being grandma sure beats being mother. You get to teach grandchildren all the things you weren't able to show you children and let their parents pick up the pieces. As they say, turn about is fair play.

While it would have been great to know the child Trisha would have given birth to, having Eve was definitely a blessing. Diane didn't hide her opinion on the matter when Trisha and David were going through the adoption process but after finally meeting Eve, she could tell that Eve was not your typical eight year old child. Eve was much wiser than half the people she worked for and with. Diane doesn't know the whole story about Eve's childhood as Eve is extremely closed off from discussing the topic but it never stopped Eve from being open to a new family. Eve's time in the foster care system was also off limits to everyone. The only person who might know something about Eve from when she was younger would be Casey, but even then it was questionable.

From the time Eve became a member of the family, she was always driven to be the best. She aced all her classes, was a well-rounded student participating in plays, sports teams and various other clubs, was the class President and Valedictorian in High School. She was definitely the prettiest and most popular girl in high school but not the type of popular person that teased people. As a matter of fact, she stopped most of that kind of thing from happening. Teachers said that they'd never had such a connected group of students in all the time they worked there. And even though she was that busy with school she still found the time to be active at the community center she frequented as a child, run marathons for fundraisers and volunteer at the soup kitchen over winter breaks all the while being a renowned gymnast. She never got into trouble. Everyone on the base knew who Evelyn Jane Fisher was and everyone liked her. She was well loved amongst all. She payed her own way to get a car, saving up every last dollar she could over the summer, not once asking for a penny from her parents even when they offered. She was the dream child that all parents longed to have. Perfect in every way imaginable.

It was almost like Eve was so afraid to loose her new family that she wanted to be the perfect child to make them want to stay around. It was sad that she had such a concept of what family was, that if you weren't good enough, people would leave you. If Diane ever found out who her father was, she would personally see to his demise. That pathetic son of a bitch taught her beloved granddaughter that family meant nothing unless you were good enough for them to want to stick around.

Of course, had it not been for that man, she wouldn't have Eve for a granddaughter. And had it not have been for that terrible, terrible night when David had to chose to save Trisha or their unborn child, they wouldn't have been at the same hospital as Eve. Apparently, she was at the hospital because of something a foster parent did to her. Diane was fairly certain Major Casey took _care_ of that one.

Diane arrived to the apartment complex, taking a moment to look around. She had to admit that there were worse places she could think of to be assigned than LA, especially with how well the landlord set the atmosphere for comfort in this place. The beautiful flowers around the courtyard were full of color and well managed. Not a single dreary flower in sight. The fountain provided a tranquility to the hustle and bustle happening just outside the complex. And all the apartments looked inviting.

When she passed in front of the asset's home, she had to do a double take. There, in the front room on the couch, was the asset and his handler, cuddled together. They looked to be the perfect couple. Both had a serene look on their face and it seemed as though were at peace, wrapped together as if they were truly lovers and not faking it. The asset had one arm being used as a pillow by his protector and the other was draped across her, hugging her to him as though he were keeping her from falling off. As for the agent, one arm was tucked underneath her chin while the other rested atop the asset's with their fingers intertwined.

If it were anyone else, Diane might have felt this was a kodak moment. If it were anyone else, she might have felt to leave them to an uninterrupted moment of bliss. However, instead, she felt the familiar tingle of anger at the sight. Had they not just gone through almost being separated? It was hard to hide in sleep what was so easily masked by daylight. _'This has gone on long enough. I will not stand for this amount of compromise.' _

***********

One moment, Sarah was sleeping peacefully, and in the next, her instincts were on high alert. At this time she didn't feel as though she and Chuck were in trouble. More like they were being watched. It's a strange feeling, the feeling of being watched. It's like in those times, your thoughts are not yours alone, as though the watcher was trying to get in your head and listen in on them.

Suddenly it was as if someone was radiating anger towards them. Sarah sprung into action, gracefully easing herself from the confines of Chuck's arms without waking him and cocking her gun in one foul swoop. She was instinctually aware of where the person was but not who they were since she was still in that half asleep, half awake state.

*********

Beckman was surprised at the sound of a gun cocking and looked through the window to see a half asleep agent pointing a gun directly at her heart. '_Thank God she hasn't pulled the trigger,'_ she thought. _'When did she move? Maybe she is capable of taking care of him even in her state of compromise.'_ Beckman duly waived that last thought away as a look of recognition mixed with confusion made it's way across the agent's face as she dropped the gun to her side.

********

Sarah started to recognize who she was pointing her gun at as one General Beckman. Confused as to her presence, Sarah slowly lowered her gun and pushed open the window. For some reason though, she left the weapon cocked and ready to be used if necessary. "General?" she questioned. "What are you doing here?"

General Beckman's shoulders dropped from the muscles relaxing as the initial shock wore off, "I have personal business to attend to that is none of your concern, Agent Walker. What are _you_ doing?"

Sarah knew the General must have seen her with Chuck. It was only obvious. "I was _doing_ my job protecting my cover." She paused after she said it. It came out as though she were slightly offended the General would ask, which she was, but the best way to handle that is not to make the General think there was something to be offended about, even if Sarah took pride in her work. She put her gun back in safety mode, placing it in her waistband and then folding her arms across her chest. "How come I haven't been able to get a hold of you and now you're showing up?"

Beckman looked indignantly upon her subordinate, "Not that it is any of your business, I had to move certain things up in order to have this personal time available. I was sure you could have things well in hand for a few days, however, since my personal business has brought me here, we can have our updates. I assume there has been no change?"

"Yes, but you said that Ch- the asset was going to be used to monitor surveillance on other team's missions for flashes and we wanted to be prepared."

"Well, as I am taking personal time, consider this a vacation from that mission. I'll contact you in a few day with further orders."

"Yes, Ma'am."

Beckman looked at Sarah a moment longer and turned to leave, "If there's nothing else . . ." She trailed off with out waiting for a response and went to knock on Casey's door.

Sarah closed the window and looked at Chuck still sleeping on the couch. _'Oh, boy. What is going on?'_

*********

Casey stayed at home last night while Trisha insisted on staying with Eve for the first night despite Eve's protest to the contrary. General Beckman had contacted him, letting him know she would arrive the next morning. She needed to use his connection for one last conversation with the Secretary of Defense and to make sure that her assistant was aware of how to contact her if need be before going to the hospital. Even if she was on vacation, she still had a very important job to do, but she wasn't going to have her normal security team with her so that she could keep a low profile while in Los Angeles.

Casey dutifully opened the door after he heard the knock, "General." He sidestepped and allowed her to into his apartment, securing the lock behind her. "Trisha is at the hospital with Eve," he said simply as if giving a status report which technically it was.

"Good, Major. Is everything set for the conference with the Secretary of Defense?"

"Yes, Ma'am."

"Good. Wait outside for me and then we can go to the hospital."

"Yes, ma'am." Casey did an about face to leave and sat around the fountain. He was never good at the waiting thing, even if it was a big part of his job. It was in these moments of nothing that he really got thinking about things he would rather not. As long as he kept up with the surveillance on Bartowski or cleaned his guns or prepared for missions or completed paperwork or even working hard at the Buy More, he didn't have to think about emotions and things. They could be ignored if he kept himself busy enough. But sitting around, twiddling your thumbs . . . waiting made things practically impossible to avoid. He doesn't understand how people can handle it. Patience is not something he harbors.

General Beckman walked out of the apartment and took note of Casey's impatience. "Let's go, _Colonel,_" she said with a slight smile. Though her meeting wasn't about Casey, the Secretary of Defense mentioned the approval his promotion at the end of their conversation.

Casey looked confused, "General?"

"Yes?"

"Colonel?"

Diane's smile eased into one of admiration that a parent would give their child. John had been friends with David since they were young boys and Diane had come to think of John as one of her own in some respects. His parents being happy for him didn't happen often so when good things happened for him she made sure he knew someone was proud of him. "After review of your more recent services I put in a recommend for a promotion."

John nodded and looked down to his lap, thinking she did it because of Eve so he didn't deserve the promotion.

Diane knew what he was thinking too so before he objected too much, she explained, "It's not because of what you are doing with Eve, although I am very grateful for that too. I actually put in for the promotion a few months ago. They've just been arguing about whether to make you a Lieutenant Colonel or actually be able to skip straight to Colonel."

Casey grunted and offered a tight smile appreciatively, feeling a sense of pride at the accomplishment but said nothing. He stood and started walking to the car with the General.

************

Trisha and Eve sat in her hospital room playing _Go Fish_ for the better part of an hour. Eve had won most of the games they'd played but Trisha was finally giving her a run for her money. "Do you have any 2's?"

"Go Fish." Eve was propped up on the mechanical bed in a sitting position. The light green blanket was thrown haphazardly across her lap and she was being careful not to pull at the IV she has for the Arsenic drop. Today they started her on some pain medication that could be used while having Arsenic in the system so in comparison to the past two or three days she was feeling remarkably better. Without having had radiation for about five days, her skin was really coming along in the healing process. Granted it still had a long way to go but it wasn't nearly as bothersome now. Plus they had been more consistent about using the burn cream. "Do you have any Kings?"

Trisha sighed and gave her the card she just literally picked up. "Here you go."

Eve giggled excitedly and laid out the cards on the small table. "Do you have any 3's?"

"No. Go Fish."

Eve picked up a card from the table as a knock came from the door. Both ladies attention was turned away from the game momentarily to see who it was. Most likely it was Ethan or one of the other nurses checking in but when red hair led through the door with a tall man behind, Eve knew exactly who it was and exclaimed, "Grams! You made it!" Her eyes lit up like a kid in a candy shop at the sight of her grandmother.

Diane easily countered Eve's enthusiasm with some of her own, "Oh, Eve! It's so wonderful to see you."

Eve put the cards down on the table, forgetting about the game and beckoned her grandma closer, "I thought it'd be a while til you got here."

Diane sat gently on the side of the bed so as not to jostle Eve too much, "I was able to get everything done earlier than I anticipated."

"Well that's awesome! I'm so glad you're here."

"As am I." Diane took in the sight of her only grandchild. She does look quite tired and frail, more so than when she saw her over the teleconference at Casey's. But her eyes still held a lively glint and a surprising amount of happiness and she couldn't help but share the good news about John, knowing he wouldn't share it. "Guess what we just found out?" she said looking back to John.

"What?" Eve and Trisha asked together.

John grunted, "Oh, now, General, let's not make a big deal out of this."

"Out of what?" Trisha asked.

"John's a Colonel now," she said.

"Really?" Trisha countered looking at John with pride. "John, that's great!"

"That's awesome, Uncle Casey! Congratulations."

At that moment, Ellie walked in and was able to hear the last part, "Hey. What happened, John?" She had seen him walk in so she had grabbed the research she did for him about Dr. Williams. luckily she had been on her break at the time.

"Hi, Dr. Bartowski," Eve said. "Uncle Casey just got a promotion."

Ellie, not knowing what it was for, assumed it was at the Buy More, "John, that's great. I'm sure you'll do fantastic in management."

"Oh, no," Eve said, "He went from Major to Colonel."

Ellie's face showed more surprise, "Oh, that's even better. Congratulations, John. I'll have to make you some dinner to celebrate."

John grunted. His grunt said yes but the words that came out were, "That won't be necessary."

"But it is necessary. It's not everyday you're in the midst of a service man in that rank. It'd be an honor." Ellie took note of the uniform this new person sitting next Eve on the bed was wearing. She doesn't know much about military ranks but she was sure Colonel was pretty high and this lady must be even higher. _'The stars mean General, right?'_ she thought. She walked closer to the new woman and stuck out a hand, "Hi, I'm Eleanor Bartowski. It's nice to meet you."

"Diane Beckman. Likewise." Even if she already knew all about Eleanor Faye Bartowski, it was different meeting her in person. People could be much differen in person than on paper and this particular person seemed to be just the same either way, a rare find indeed. One of the things Diane could never quite figure out is how Ellie was so together and Chuck was in such disarray. "How do you know John?" Of course she already knew the answer but Ellie didn't know that.

"Oh, John and I are next door neighbors. He works with my brother, Chuck."

"Ah. I see." The General took note of the glint of pride in her eyes at the mention of her brother.

Eve couldn't contain her excitement at her grandmother's appearance and directed the attention back to her arrival, "So, Grams. How long are you staying?"

"Well, Eve dear, as long as nothing that is too pressing comes along, I'm here for as long as is necessary."

"Oh, that's good news, Diane," Trisha said. Despite any shortcomings they have in their relationship, Eve loved Diane a lot, so Trisha could put aside her feelings. No one said it would be easy to go from being an asset of the government to the daughter-in-law of the officer in charge of the mission. "Where are you staying?"

"I still need to go get a hotel room but I was too excited to see you guys so I haven't done it yet. John has my things at his place right now."

"You can stay with my fiancé, Devon, and me if you'd like," Ellie offered, "Chuck is moving in with his girlfriend, Sarah, so we'll have space. That way you can be closer to your family."

Diane replied, "That's quite all right. I don't mind hotels."

"I insist," Ellie said, "Actually you'd be doing me a favor. Then I can have the soon to be in-laws stay with Chuck and Sarah." John let out a grunt/laugh. The security tapes from when they came to town the first time were too entertaining to discard. No one commented so Ellie continued,"Really, it's not a problem. I'd really appreciate it."

Diane thought it over for a few moments. It's not like the asset was going to be there. They were ordered to move in together. She wasn't here for them anyway. And it would put her closer to Trisha and Casey so they could car pool to the hospital or on the days that Eve was able to go home they'd all be near each other, that is if she is allowed to leave. "Okay."

"Great," Ellie said with a relieved smile, "I'll have the place ready for you. I'll be off work at three. Would you want a ride with me or do you have a car?"

"A ride would be nice. I'll be here."

"Okay." Ellie lifted the folder in her hand and looked to John. She was only on her break so she needed to hand this over soon, "Um, could I speak with you outside John?"

He nodded and went outside with Ellie. She handed him the folder and he asked, "What's this?"

"I got you a copy of Dr. Williams public file from the hospital as well as pieces he's sent into medical journals regarding the treatment."

"How'd you get it?"

"The file? Oh, Devon and I broke into the Chief's office and made a copy."

"Really?" John said in disbelief. Of course he wasn't that gullible but she just thought he was sweet John the next door neighbor.

Ellie laughed, "Of course not silly. I asked for it. Besides it's public record so anyone can make a request for it. I thought you might want to look over it."

"Thanks, Ellie."

"Sure," Ellie said turning to walk down the hall, "Remember, John, anything you guys need, just ask." She walked to the front desk and grabbed the telephone to call Chuck to let him know he needs to stay with Sarah.

*************

After her rude awakening with General Beckman, Sarah decided to get ready for the day and get to the bottom of what ever is going on. She was a little perturbed that Beckman has shown up. _'Is my performance being evaluated again? Is my partnership with Casey going to be dissolved? What is going on?'_ These and so many other questions ran through her mind. If everyone would just communicate with each other, then maybe this wouldn't be such an issue.

Sarah came out of the bathroom after showering to find Chuck awake on the couch playing some video game. "Morning," she said brightly, her concerns leaving her mind if only for a moment. She walked to the couch and sat on the arm rest.

Chuck turned his attention towards her as he paused the game, "Hey beautiful," he said cheerily, and then realized there was no one around for cover duty. He cleared his throat and changed the subject, "So is the plan just to finish painting today? Morgan wanted to know if I could take Anna on-call shift because he has some special night planned. I told him I'd check with you."

Sarah smiled involuntarily at his compliment. She shrugged her shoulder, "Well, yeah. That's all I have planned, unless you wanted me to say no."

"No, no. I don't mind taking her shift. She picked up mine so we could paint yesterday."

"Okay, then that's fine with me." Sarah stood up and went to the kitchen, "Is it alright if I make a sandwich?"

Chuck smiled, "Of course. You don't have to ask."

"I know but still," Sarah responded sheepishly. It still felt somewhat awkward acting like Chuck's apartment was hers when she didn't even live there. Almost like she was intruding. _'Hopefully it won't feel like that at our place.'_ Sarah shook off that thought. _'Of course it won't. You're gonna be living there.' _"Would you like one?"

"Sure," Chuck said returning his attention back to the game. It had been about five minutes since Sarah left when his phone started ringing. Looking at the caller ID he noted it was the hospital calling. _'Hmm, must be Ellie,'_ he thought as he answered, wedging the phone between his shoulder and ear so he could still play, "Hello?"

"Hey, Chuck. Its me," the familiar voice of Ellie came through.

"Hey. How's it going?"

Ellie could hear the video game going in the background and said in a motherly tone, "Chuck, aren't you supposed to be finishing with the paint job? You guys only have the one room and the hallway left."

"Yeah, yeah," he said distractedly, "Oh come on- Sarah's just making some sandwiches for an early lunch and then we're going over."

"Okay. Speaking of which, since the furniture isn't gonna be delivered until tomorrow, you think you could stay at Sarah's tonight?"

"I don't know. I'd have to ask. Why?"

Ellie shook her head, "I will never understand your relationship, Chuck. It's not like you guys aren't moving in together already."

"I know. It's just . . . Sarah likes her space and I think she should have it for a couple more days," Chuck said, sounding less than convincing. He didn't want to intrude. She was already being forced to live with him. He could at least give her some space for what little time she has left of it.

Ellie's tone grew concerned, "Did something happen?"

"No. Why?"

"You sound like you're second guessing the moving in thing. You guys didn't have a fight, did you?"

"No, no fight and no second guessing. It's just . . . well . . . you know how private Sarah can be."

"It's something I've come to notice, yes," Ellie said flatly. "Look, either way, John's relative needs a place to stay and I didn't think it'd be a problem for you to stay with Sarah so I offered to let her stay with us."

Sarah walked in carrying two plates and two drinks. Her left arm had one plate on her forearm and the other in her hand while the right had both drinks. She placed one sandwich down in front of Chuck and a glass of water. She sat back against the couch and took a bite of her sandwich, content to watch Chuck play his game a little more before finishing up their little project.

He said 'thank you' to her in sign language and lipped 'Ellie' so she would know who he was talking to. "Oh, anyone I know? I didn't know John's relatives were in town." Chuck reached for the drink and took a sip. He wondered why Casey's family would be in town if there was nothing serious going on. _'Maybe its just a cover but then why would Ellie know about it?'_

"Probably not. Her name is Diane Beckman."

Chuck spit out the water all over the coffee table and started coughing. Sarah watched a look of shock cross his face as the color drained from it and wondered what Ellie had said.

"Chuck, are you alright?" Ellie asked.

"Yeah, fine," Chuck said between coughs. He tapped his hand on his chest in an attempt to help the coughing subside. "Woo, sorry. Wrong tube," he lied.

"Chuck, you've got to be more careful," Ellie admonished.

"Right, well, let me call you right back," he said quickly moving to hang up.

"I only have five minutes left on my break so hurry up."

"Okay, great. Bye," he said nervously as he disconnected the call. Looking up at Sarah, his face paled some more.

"What was that about?" Sarah asked.

"Oh, nothing. Nothing at all. Just my kind, sweet, caring sister invited the bane of my existence to stay with her while she is in town. Nothing too serious," he said in that sort of joking, but I'm freaking out kind of way.

"'The bane of your existence?'" Sarah repeated, confused.

"Oh, yeah. See, it appears General Beckman is in town- thanks for the warning by they way- and Ellie is letting her stay here. She wants me to stay with you tonight. See Ellie isn't aware that _we_," Chuck said motioning between the two of them, "are a cover. But Beckman is quite aware of that fact so . . ."

"Oh, yeah. About that. I didn't know she was in town until this morning. After she sort of saw us sleeping on the couch."

"Oh, great. I see you've had quite the eventful morning already. Is Carina in town? Or maybe Bryce?"

"You need to calm down, Chuck."

"Calm down?! Sarah, she is staying with my _sister. _Don't you understand what that means?" Chuck didn't wait for her reply, "It means, that _we_," he motioned between them again, "are going to have to do couply things in front of the General and somehow keep her convinced that _we_ are still professional, which we are but still. I don't want another handler, Sarah."

She could see his point. Having her here so soon after the 49B was definitely not good, especially after Chuck had told the General they care about each other. But he still needed to calm down. Something else was going on here, something serious and they need to figure out what it is. "Alright, Chuck. I see the predicament but Chuck, let's be calm for a moment," Sarah said, putting her hands on the side of his head, forcing him to look at her, "We need to think clearly and in order to do that, we can't panic. Okay?" He nodded his head. "Good." Realizing where her hands were, she immediately dropped them. She turned around and walked away, crossing her arms over her chest. "You are right. Beckman staying with Ellie causes some problems. If we are ever all around each other at the same time, we will have to be able to keep up appearances for _both_ parties." Sarah sat down on the couch, resting her elbows on her knees and holding her head in her hands, "This is going to be hard."

Chuck had started to calm down. This wouldn't be so bad. They could do this, couldn't they? "Well, look at the bright side. She isn't staying with us."

Sarah laughed despite her growing dread. '_Leave it to Chuck to find something positive.'_ "That's very true." Silence fell over the room as both of them thought about what could happen. For Sarah, it was one thing hiding things from a superior officer that was away from the situation. It was quite another when you were going to at some point be forced to act as a couple in front of them while still keeping it professional but couplish enough so that others don't get concerned. "We can do this right? We just have to make sure we aren't around her often. I'm sure at some point Ellie will do one of her dinners but we could cut it short right?"

"Yeah, yeah. Piece of cake," Chuck said with minimal confidence. As for his part, one wrong move meant Sarah would be forced into a reassignment or he would be sent to a bunker. _'Oh boy.'_ Chuck called Ellie back and said that he would stay with Sarah tonight. The couple went over to their place to finish up the last bit of painting they had left. It seems Tuesday didn't have enough hours in the day to put off Wednesday for long enough. Tomorrow would be Storage Day.

********

Ellie had just finished the remaining few hours of her shift. The last patient had kept her a little longer with all the questions. She didn't mind though. It was important for patients to feel they understand the situation. The only problem was she had someone waiting for her, some one with a militarial background who probably like promptness.

She sat in the locker room and changed her shoes to sandals. She grabbed her coat and purse and started making her way to Eve's room. Eve's story was being passed around the hospital by a couple of the nurses as she was the newest full time patient to the study. The difference being that everyone felt this girl wouldn't make it through the treatment but she still had spunk. She doesn't treat the attendings rudely, instead being kind and laughing with them. Some of them even knew about her as some gymnastics star.

Eve looked down at her watch, reading three twenty. Ellie let out a sigh and knocked on the door before opening it. John sat in a chair by the window looking through the file Ellie had given him earlier. Trisha and Diane sat on either side of Eve's bed continuing to play card games while catching up. "Hi. I'm so sorry I'm late. I got caught up with a patient."

Diane placed her cards on the table. "Understandable," she said. If Chuck had been there, his jaw would have hit the floor. She didn't seem at all bothered by Ellie's tardiness. "We were just finishing up our game anyway." She turned her attention back to Eve on the bed. "Well, Eve, dear. I must take my leave. Long trips leave for a grouchy old women."

"Oh, Grams," Eve rolled her eyes at her grandmother, "You're only as old as you feel."

"If only you knew," Diane laughed and grasped both of Eve's hands in her own. She leaned forward to rest her head against Eve's as she said, "Remeber, dear child, courage is not the absense of fear but the strength to continue on anyway." She gave her hands a squeeze in support as if she could give Eve some of her strength. Diane was aware that Eve had plenty but it never hurt to know you have people in your corner.

Eve squeezed back. The first time Grams had said that was when Eve got scared at her first competition. She smiled and gave her the same response she did that day and everytime since, "Alright, Confucious." She spent a lot of time shaping her character to those words amongst others of course.

Diane pulled back as she responded in turn, "That's all grandma. Never forget you have a wise old fool for a Grandmother."

"Love you, Grams," Eve said with a smile. Every time they parted, they did the same thing. It was their special way of saying I love you, but this time, Eve just felt she had to say it even if it was implied.

Diane kissed Eve on the forehead, "Love you, too." She stood and walked around the bed to give Trisha a hug, "See you tomorrow. Goodbye, John." She gathered her belongings and walked towards the door with Ellie.

Ellie didn't want to ruin their moment and offered a slight waive to the room. Once the door was closed behind them, she led Diane through a series of twists and turns out to the parking lot.

************

In about twenty minutes, Ellie and Diane had arrived back to the apartment complex. As they were walking up to the courtyard, Ellie asked, "Is there anything in particular you would like for dinner?"

"What ever you had on the agenda I'm sure will be fine," she said. Music emnated across the courtyard as Ellie was unlocking the door. From this vantage point, you could see directly into the new apartment of Chuck and Sarah as they hadn't put any drapery up yet. The sky had become overcast and gray so they had to have the lights on which illuminated the scene even more. Sarah was sitting on one of the bar stools they borrowed from Ellie in case they wanted a break from painting. Chuck sat next to her on the other stool and while you couldn't hear what was being said between them, the two were laughing and dancing a little in their seats. Diane was brought back to earlier that morning when she saw them together, but some how this seemed different than before.

She wasn't given time to dwell on that as Ellie interrupted her thoughts, "Aww, aren't they just so cute? I can't believe they're finally doing it."

"Doing what?"

"Moving in together. They always say their relationship is complicated but when you see them like this, it's hard to think that. They just seem so _right_ together, you know?"

"Why do they say it's complicated?"

"I don't know." Ellie pushed the door opened and led Diane to Chuck's room. "Any time I ask either one, they sort of shut down about it and get a sad look on their face like they wish it wasn't so complicated. Sarah moved here from DC I guess because things went south with her old boyfriend. I think his name was Bruce or something. Anyway, Chuck had been so hung up on his last girlfriend, Jill, until Sarah came around. I think they both want to take things really slow because of those past relationships. But they are great together."

Diane soaked in the new information only offering a small hum in reply.

"Well, this is Chuck's old room. I had him change the sheets for you so they're fresh. The bathroom is across the hall if you needed to freshen up or anything. Devon should be home around five. I'm going to change and get started on dinner. Let me know if you need anything."

"Oh you've been most helpful, Dr. Bartowski," Diane said. _'Most helpful indeed.'_

"Not a problem. And, please, call me Ellie."

Diane nodded and Ellie left the room.

***********

That's all for now. Next time is another meeting with Eve and Ethan and what some people have told me they're waiting for, storage day.


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: Hey! So I hope this doesn't disappoint. The original chapter that was written . . . well lets say that I am not awesome and didn't save it before my computer shut down so most of it was lost. Dumb computer . . . yeah, thats right, blame technology. Just kidding, it was all me =)

But the chapter is pretty long so hopefully that makes up for it. Lots of stuff happens . . .

Chapter nine

Chuck's body woke up at seven fifteen in the morning. Here it was, now eight thirty and he still hasn't moved to open his eyes, choosing instead to relish in sleep that is beyond him. He wanted to put this day off for as long as possible. Well, there was that but also the fact that in the entire time he's been in a fake relationship with Sarah, he's never stayed at her place. He had been aware that she awoke almost an hour ago. In his endless desire to learn more about her, he took in her morning process. This is what she does when she is alone and not at his house. He listened, although that is difficult when she is trained to be silent, but anyway, he listened to her breathing get rough but not loud as she did sit ups and push ups. She skipped using her punch bag since Chuck was still asleep but she still went through the motions of kickboxing against nothing. Every so often, when she would get so quiet he couldn't hear her, he would just barely open his eyes and watch her. It was like music in motion seeing her work. She started doing a Tai Chi routine, making sure that her breathing was just right and all the moves flowed together seemlessly. The amount of grace and balance she has astounds Chuck to no end. When she started to do her finishing stretches, he drifted off into a sleep where he still heard her get into the shower but he was unaware of anything else.

It's been about twenty minutes since Sarah finished her workout and shower. She was already dressed and ready to go for the day and now she was silently reading files at the table as the sunlight glistened through the window, her attention only being drawn away when Chuck's breathing had changed. His eyes remained closed as if determined to grab ten extra minutes of sleep. She knew better though. She knew he was putting off getting up for as long as he possibly could.

Her phone vibrated on the table and she quickly reached out to silence it. _'If he wants to wallow, let him. He can't hide forever. Besides, we aren't meeting there until two.'_ Sarah glanced at the caller ID and seeing that it was Ellie, she answered quietly, "Hey, Ellie."

"Hey, Sarah," came Ellie's cheerful reply. "Why are you whispering? Did I wake you up?"

"Oh, no. I've been up for a while. Chuck is still _trying _to sleep." Chuck's eyes opened narrowly at her as she said this and Sarah teasingly mimicked him, "I say trying because I know he isn't." Chuck just stuck out his tongue at her and closed his eyes again.

Ellie could hear the playfulness lacing her voice and smiled. "Hiding I see. Well, we're going to have breakfast in about twenty minutes if you guys wanted to join us. I know Chuck has some boxes ready here to take over. Hey, you guys can meet Diane."

_'Ooo, breakfast with the General. Can't wait.'_ Sarah couldn't exactly say no at this point because Ellie already knew they needed to go over anyway. "Um, sure. I'll get Chuck moving. Which means it will probably be closer to thirty minutes until we get there," Sarah said. _'That's good. Buy us some time.'_

"Okay great. We are going to take Diane to the hospital on our way to finish up what we need to today before meeting you guys at the storage facility," Ellie said. "She's really nice. You'll like her."

_'Not as much as you'd think, Ellie.'_ "I sure hope so. It'll be nice to meet someone from John's family."

Ellie had made the assumption that Diane and John had been related but it turned out to be untrue. Last night when Diane and she were talking at dinner, the real story came out. "Well, they're not actually related related. John was friends with her son, David, so technically they are of no relation at all. But she's known him since he was really young."

"I see," Sarah said. _'I didn't realize Casey has had a relationship with the General for that long.'_ "Well I'm going to get Chuck out of bed so we'll be there soon."

"Okay. See you in a bit."

Sarah disconnected the call and sat looking at Chuck. He had his eyes closed again and he was feigning sleep. Sarah picked up a throw pillow from the chair and threw it at him with a mischievous smile. It bounced off Chuck's head but he kept his eyes closed as he responded, "Is that your version of waking some one up?"

"When they're being a baby it is."

"Great, now I'm a baby again," Chuck said as he rolled over to his other side to face away from her.

Sarah's shoulders slumped and she stood to walk over to the bed. She was only teasing. She laid down next to him but he wouldn't look at her. She couldn't tell if he was really upset or just faking it. She ducked her head a little and got directly in his line of sight, but he still wouldn't look at her. "Chuck?"

"Sarah."

_'Well he's talking to me. That's a good sign,'_ she thought. Sarah sighed, "I don't understand, Chuck. What's the big deal about today? I don't get it. It's just stuff. I'm trying to be understanding but where are you coming from on this?"

After a few moments, Chuck finally met her gaze and saw the confusion etched across her face. She really has no idea what to think. He knew he was probably over reacting but he couldn't help it. The things he has in storage bring back bad memories and while some of them could be good he just doesn't want to deal with it. He was unsure of how to explain it to her. Sometimes things like this are easier to show someone. "It's just . . ." he sighed and rolled to his back, looking up at the ceiling, "I don't know, Sarah. It's hard. Having that storage started out as a good thing you know. It meant that Ellie and I were finally moving on from our parents leaving us because she was starting her residency and I was going to Stanford. We were finally moving forward even against all odds. And now . . . it's like a reminder that I failed. I mean, I'm twenty eight years old, living with my sister, working at a Buy More. And Ellie, well she is just too perfect for words. Everything she wanted to do, she accomplished. It wasn't supposed to turn out this way. I guess life never goes how it's supposed to, huh?"

"Well you're not going to be living with your sister anymore."

"Yeah, at the prompting of the United States Government," he held up his index finger, "which by the way, wouldn't hesitate to put a bullet in my head. I'd still be there if we weren't being ordered to live together. Which I'm sure is no walk in the park for you. I really am a complete loser."

"You're not a loser, Chuck," Sarah said placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. "I've seen you do amazing things. You've gone through some really awful stuff and yet you still find the time to put other people ahead of yourself, me included- which you shouldn't but you do. You always, always do the right thing even if its the hard thing to do. You have a strength of character I've never seen before." Sarah rolled to her stomach and propped herself up on her elbows so she could look at Chuck, "So life didn't turn out how you thought it would. So what? Whose does? But you are always looking for the bright side of things. Even if its just one, tiny shimmer of hope, you have the capability to hold on to it. Not many people are able to do that." She paused as she turned away and shook her head, now looking between the headboard and her hands instead, finding them to be much more interesting. "You are _such_ a good person who doesn't deserve what you were given and yet you've always managed to bounce back. Everyday I've been here, everyday I'm still here, I am amazed by you."

Chuck blushed a little at her confession. His moment of wallowing now forgotten with her words. He smiled and decided to lighten the moment, "That's awfully eloquent for a nine AM."

Sarah smiled and then lifted her head to look at him, "What can I say? I'm an eloquent spy."

"Lucky for me," Chuck said with a laugh.

"Come on," Sarah said pushing herself up from the bed, "We have a fabulous breakfast made by your sister waiting for us."

"Oh, fine," Chuck said, kicking his leg and using the momentum to pull himself up.

****************

Twenty five minutes later found Sarah and a freshly cleaned Chuck at Casa Bartowski. Chuck opened the door for her and allowed her to precede him into the apartment under the watchful eye of Ellie and the General. Beckman noted his affinity for chivalry as he took Sarah's jacket from her and hung it up on the coat rack by the door only afterward shedding his own and placing it next to hers. It's like they've forgotten that Beckman was there and are going about their normal activities.

"Hey, you guys," Ellie said, putting a plate of toast next to the butter on the table and walking over to the couple as they met her halfway. "I see you got this one out of bed," she said, directing the comment towards Sarah while leaning in to give her a hug.

Sarah responded in kind, although a little hesitantly given the fact that her boss was less than twenty feet away. "Oh, it was nothing."

Ellie laughed and turned her attention to Chuck. She leaned in a gave him a hug, "Ooo, you smell like Sarah."

Chuck laughed nervously. Beckman was sitting at the table observing the interaction with a look he couldn't seem to decipher. "Well, it was the only soap there was so that's how it goes I guess."

Ellie let go and pulled Chuck to the table by the hand, "Come on. There is someone you should meet." The three walked over to the table as Ellie introduced everyone, not knowing of their acquaintance already. "Chuck, Sarah, this is Diane. Diane, this is my brother, Chuck, and his girlfriend, Sarah."

Diane wore a light yellow button down with khaki pants and brown slip ons. Her hair was neat and tidy as usual but her expression was more friendly than it would be under normal circumstances. Chuck reached out his hand to her and said, "Ge-" Sarah lightly elbowed him in the side, reminding him they didn't know her job, "-e, it sure is nice to meet you." He didn't add her name for fear of later retribution. _'Gee? What decade is this?'_

_'Nice save, Chuck,'_ Sarah thought, mentally rolling her eyes as she extended her hand to Beckman. "Yes, it's a pleasure."

Beckman shook both hands shortly as she replied, "Likewise." To her the pair seemed slightly tense. Had Diane understood just how much Ellie likes having Chuck in her life, she would have declined the invitation to stay. In meeting them under these circumstances even she has to make adjustments. Lucky for her, though, she isn't threatened by any misgivings.

"Well, now that that's done, let's eat," Ellie said moving to sit.

Beckman watched the asset pull out a chair for the agent. She could tell he was becoming self-conscious under her scrutiny but he wasn't stopping acting how a boyfriend would act in front of his sister . . . well, how a good boyfriend would act in front of his sister.

And so began an awkward breakfast. Beckman and Sarah were hiding it pretty well from Ellie and Devon. Chuck on the other hand was a little more obvious. His knee bounced furiously up and down under the table catching the attention of Ellie. She gave him a funny look but just thought it was about what today has in store for them and not the company occupying the table. She knew his feelings towards his possessions in storage.

Sarah, noticing her look, placed her hand on Chuck's leg, effectively stopping his fidgeting. Chuck tensed and looked over at Sarah. She gave him a look that said _'It's okay. Relax.'_

_'I'm trying.' _He felt like this was his first mission all over again. Not that he has gotten used to the jitters but he felt he has come a long way in coping with them. His eyes barely dropped almost imperceptible to anyone but Sarah. '_You should move your hand. The General is watching.'_

Sarah casually pulled her hand away but still offered a look of reassurance and Chuck could feel his confidence building as her ever calming presence overcame him. _'If she is being casual, so can I.' _He looked back to his plate and put all his focus on fastidiously preparing his food so he could forget that the woman who holds his future in her hands is sitting across from him at this very moment watching everything they're doing. He applied butter to all of his pancakes and drizzled syrup over top. He started to cut the pancakes into little pieces when he noticed Sarah's stare on his plate.

She was mesmerized by his movements while he prepared his breakfast. _'It looks so good. He always puts just the right amount of butter to syrup. Mine always come out soggy.'  
_

Chuck knew she liked how meticulously he fixed up his pancakes. With a small smirk, he traded plates with her so she could have the ones that are ready to eat and he went about fixing up his new plate. Feeling like he was being watched by Sarah, he glanced over to her, _'What?'_

She shook her head a bit her bottom lip to hide a smile. _'Nothing.'_ She picked up her fork and started to eat.

Chuck just smiled and went back to work on his.

Beckman was intrigued by the entire exchange. At first he was really nervous and then Sarah did something and he was completely calm and then he traded plates with her without asking, just knowing. _'What did I miss?' _There have been very few times where Beckman has seen such a high display of synchronicity between two people. It certainly was interesting to see them act in what you could call a normal setting, although with what she has seen thus far, she is quite surprised Colonel Casey hasn't mentioned something to her. _'We'll have to have a talk about that.'_

"So," Devon said, interrupting the silence, "Ellie and I were going to taste test one more cake and then meet you guys there. Did you want to meet up for lunch before?"

"Are you sure you're going to be up for lunch?" Chuck asked. "This is Ellie we're talking about. She says one but she means ten."

Ellie rolled her eyes and stated her defense, "Is it so wrong for me to want a tasty wedding cake? I don't want one that just looks pretty. It should taste good too."

"Well then you should have a wedding pie. Pie always tastes much better than cake."

"No pies, Chuck. Remember the last time we had pie at Morgan's family reunion?"

"Oh yeah. That was so funny. Jose really let Miguel have it," Chuck laughed at the memory. Beckman was being so quiet it was easy for him to forget she was there. "Oh speaking of Morgan's family, Isabel said that they will have Sonia's birthday party at the zoo on Friday since it is supposed to rain on Saturday. You think you can make it?"

"I'll have to check." Ellie turned to Devon to ask, "Isn't that when you're parents are coming in? They said a week before the wedding right?"

"Yeah but they decided to stay at Riley's until Wednesday and Trevor is flying in that day so Mom said that they probably will wait until Thursday next week to get here."

"Really?" Ellie said, her eyes twinkling with a mixture of hope and relief. Sometimes she was grateful she didn't have parents. It's not that she doesn't love Devon's parents. They're . . . awesome. But they're just so awesome that its overbearing sometimes. Although it will probably be crazy since it was just two days before the wedding, Ellie felt she could handle it for a couple days over a week. Most everything should be done by then anyway.

"Yeah. Hey Chuck, you guys think you could let them stay with you while Mrs. Beckman is staying with us?" Devon's face scrunched up as he thought. _'Beckman? Beckman? Why is that so familiar?'_ He hadn't said her name enough and Ellie only called her Diane since they were on a first name basis at this point.

Chuck looked at Sarah. He didn't want to agree to anything without her consent and she got to meet them before he did because he was handcuffed at the Orange Orange by Casey so he didn't know if she would want to. Sarah looked at Devon, "Oh- um, how long are they staying?"

Devon looked as though he were trying to recall some memory and didn't hear what Sarah said, "Hmm?"

"You're parents, how long are they staying."

Devon waived his hand in the air, "Oh just until Sunday."

Sarah looked at Chuck, "Well that's okay with me, if you say its okay."

"Sure. We can have the guest room ready by then."

"Awesome. Thanks guys." Devon turned his attention to Diane, knowing that whatever he was forgetting had something to do with her name. "So what is that you do for a living?"

Chuck choked a little on his orange juice but managed to keep the liquid in his mouth this time. Good thing too since Beckman was sitting right across from him. Chuck coughed after successfully swallowing the drink, "Sorry. I seem to be having trouble drinking these days."

Beckman gave Chuck an odd look as Ellie responded the same way as yesterday. "You need to be more careful. Are we going to need to buy straws?"

"No, no. I'm fine. Just seems to be one of those days." He shoveled some food in his mouth to keep from talking.

Diane took her stony gaze off Chuck and softened it as she looked at Devon. There is no sense in lying since Ellie had already seen her in uniform. "I'm a General in the Air Force."

"Really?" Devon said. "That's awesome . . ." His voice trailed off towards the end as dots connected. _'General Beckman was the name on Chuck's screen. But he said that was for a game with Morgan-"_

Chuck's eyes widened as the dots connected for him as well. He swallowed his food all at once so he could speak. "Ah, Devon. Buddy," Chuck said as he stood. "I just realized that I need your help with something. It can't wait." He pulled Devon up by the arm as the three women looked on in confusion. Chuck started pushing Devon towards his bedroom and closed the door. Chuck kept his tone quiet as Devon looked on in confusion. "Devon," he looked back to the door to make sure they weren't followed, "Devon, don't freak out."

Devon kept his tone the same as Chuck's. "You said General Beckman was Morgan's name on a game. Now she is a real person in my house."

"Yes, yes. She is a real person. You walked in after we had a conversation. Devon, you can't say anything to anyone. No one can know that you know. Not Ellie, not General Beckman, and most definitely not Sarah or Casey."

"But I don't know anything Chuck," Devon said as he spread his arms out.

Chuck rolled his eyes as he remember the bugs. _'I can't talk to him here.'_ Chuck walked over to the nightstand where Sarah had kept the bug killing pen. Maybe she left it there. He pushed papers around and came up empty. _'Dammit. She must have taken it.'_ He found a regular pen and wrote Devon a note a piece of paper and folded it up. He walked over to his closet, moving some jackets and shirts around that were covering a large canvas with a picture he painted for Devon and Ellie. He turned and took the few steps needed to lay it on the bed. "Here, come take a look at this," he said going to a normal tone of voice but he was trying to communicate with his eyes to drop their previous conversation.

Devon looked unsure at Chuck. "Ookayy." He walked to the bed and stood next to Chuck looking down on the painting he'd done. Devon eyes widen at the masterpiece. Ellie had told him that Chuck could do art and stuff but he's never seen any of it up close and personal like. The painting was of the soon to be Woodcomb family. Devon had Ellie wrapped in his arms as Ellie rested her head on his shoulder. Devon's head was dipped to lean against Ellie's and both had content smiles and blissful expressions on their faces. Their eyes were closed as if they were the only two in existence. They truly looked a couple in love. Every minute detail was perfected down to each individual strand of hair, the blush on Ellie's cheek and the dimple in Devon's. Ellie's left hand was linked with Devon's right and they rested on his right shoulder. Her engagement ring glistened perfectly as it would if it were real life. At the base of the portrait was a quote in calligraphy that read, _You know you're in love when you don't want to fall asleep because your reality is better than any dream you could ever have. _Underneath that was the date of their wedding day, next Saturday. His signature rested very small in the bottom right corner. "Wow, Chuck! This is awesome! I mean, Ellie said you could draw but man! I never thought it would be like this. It looks so real," he said, momentarily distracted from the real reason they went to the room.

"Thanks, Devon. I'm glad you like it," Chuck said as he put his hand up for a high five holding the note between his thumb and the side of his hand to pass off to Devon.

Devon caught sight of the piece of paper and gave him a high five, discretely putting the note in the pocket of his jeans. "Like it? I love it! You're really good."

Chuck blushed and fidgeted nervously, "I'm pretty nervous to give it to Ellie. I don't want her to think that I want to start painting again but she always said she wanted one of these when we were younger. You think I should give it to her now? Or should I wait?"

"Oh, now. Definitely now, Chuck."

"Okay, great. I'll go prepare Ellie and I'll tell you when to come out with it." Hopefully Devon would use this time to read the note. Chuck turned and left the room, going out to the dining room. "Alright, Ellie," he said as he knelt in front of her, "I have something for you that Devon is going to bring out in just a second. Will you come with me?"

"Ah, sure, Chuck," Ellie said grabbing his offered hand.

Chuck pulled her into the living room next to the coffee table and then stopped, "Okay. Wait here."

********

After Chuck left Devon pulled the note out of his pocket. _I can't talk to you here. Convince Ellie to have lunch on the beach and we'll talk then. P.S. Destroy this letter with fire or flush it down the toilet or something creative but just be sure its completely destroyed._

Devon put the piece of paper back into his pocket and waited for the signal from Chuck.

********

"Okay, Devon. She's ready," Chuck yelled down the hall. He turned back to his sister, "Alright, now don't freak out. I'm not starting again, okay?"

Ellie nodded, although she was confused, "Okay." Devon carried the canvas portrait down the hallway keeping the picture facing him so Ellie couldn't see. He stopped at the end of the hallway and twisted the picture to face the front. Ellie gasped in shock as she took in the painting. "Oh my, God, Chuck. Its . . . beautiful."

Sarah and Beckman had moved to a standing position behind the couch to see what all the fuss was about. Both their jaws nearly hit the floor at the sight of the picture. It was so life like. Like at any moment the figures could take a breath or walk away. They simultaneously thought, _'Wow!'_ Beckman turned to look at Sarah. She whispered quietly, "Did you know he could do this?"

Sarah shook her head. "I've never seen it but Morgan mentioned it a few days ago."

Ellie walked to Devon and took the picture form him. Her eyes began to tear as she looked over to her brother. She couldn't believe he would paint this for her after so vehemently protesting against ever painting again. That day broke her heart because he was so talented. She could only ever dream of being this good. Their mother had tried to teach both of them but Ellie had given up after she kept getting too frustrated. She could draw now but nothing like this. "I can't believe you remembered."

"Come on, Ellie," Chuck shrugged sheepishly as he blushed again, "What kind of brother would I be if I forgot?"

Ellie rested the portrait against the coffee table and gave Chuck a big hug. "Thank you Chuck. You have no idea how much this means to me."

"It's nothing," he said. "A promise is a promise." It was a good thirty to forty-five seconds before Ellie let go, the memory of that day coming back to her. That day ironically held two important promises that they made to each other.

_{Flashback}_

_An eight year old Chuck and his mother sat in her small studio at their home one afternoon in the summer. Every Saturday since she learned her son had an affinity for drawing, she would take him in there to teach him more and hone his skills. They've already gone through lighting and shading and making things look life like. He soaked everything up like a sponge, as always, so today she was showing him how to draw people, how to look for minute facial changes to properly express an emotion, how to capture a single moment for a lifetime. Some would say that people were a more interesting subject but she would argue that they offered more dimensions than a scenery however one could be just as interesting as the other.  
_

_Chuck looked up to his big sister so he wanted to try to draw her that day. He wanted her to be the first. Ellie would have rather been playing outside but at her mother's beckoning (and as part of her punishment for fighting) she sat as a model for her little brother. She was slouched over in a wooden chair with one foot resting on the seat and the other on the window sill. Her right arm was bent at the elbow resting atop her knee and she was using it as a pillow at the wrist for her head. Her left hand was wedged between the forearm and bicep of the right. Her hair was loosely piled into a ponytail allowing tendrils to fall around her face. She wore her trademark summer clothes of old blue cut off jeans and a white t-shirt. Her shirt was stained green and brown from the tussle she had earlier in the day because someone had called Chuck stupid and pushed him down.  
_

_So here she has sat for the past two hours looking longingly outside as her friends had a neighborhood game of baseball going. __For the past while her sighs of boredom have become more frequent but Chuck refused to tell her he was done yet. He has been done with the sketch for about ten minutes but she always played doctor with him for forever so he figured she can stand to sit there for a little while longer while he added the only color in the picture to the stains on her shirt. Their mother had left to get dinner started, leaving the siblings to themselves in the room. When Ellie's sigh changed to something other than boredom, Chuck finally caved and took the sketch over to his sister for her to see. "Ellie?"_

_Ellie turned her attention to her little brother, blinking out the sun spots from her eyes caused by looking out the window for so long. "Are you done?"_

_He nodded and handed out the picture to her. Ellie roughly took it from him and looked down annoyed. Her expression softened as she took in the picture. "Wow, Chuck!" she exclaimed in astonishment as she looked back and forth between her brother and the drawing. "__This is amazing! You're really good."__ She's only ever seen pictures he's done of cars or flowers but this was different. She had to admit he has a knack for people. She always envied his charisma and wished she could have just one iota of it. All that time she thought she was wasting sitting there, doing nothing, worried that it would be all for not, turned out to be one of the coolest experiences ever. She will always be able to say that she, Eleanor Faye Bartowski, was his first drawing of a person._

_Chuck blushed at her compliment. "Do you like it?" he asked so innocently, only the way Chuck could manage to do._

_"I do, Chuck. I really do." Ellie rested the picture on her lap and looked hopefully at her brother, "Can I keep it?"_

_Chuck nodded excitedly, overjoyed she would even care to ask. _

_"This is just so awesome," Ellie said picking up the sketch again and looking at it. "When I get married, I want you to draw a picture of us together."_

_Chuck's face scrunched in disgust, "Eww. You think about getting married? Yuck!"_

_"All girls think about getting married," __Ellie said as she rolled her eyes, "Promise me."_

_Chuck looked at his older sister. He always wanted to please her. He couldn't stand it if he let her down or if she was disappointed in him, probably more so than with their parents. "I promise."_

_Ellie smile brightly at her younger brother. Most of the time she thought he was a nuisance with his strange manner and odd interests, but he was her nuisance and she loved him dearly. Besides, they get along a lot better than most. They take good care of each other. She trusted him more than anyone else in her life.  
_

_Chuck looked to the ground and scuffed his foot across the hardwood as he mumbled and apology, "Sorry for getting you in trouble."_

_"Hey, there's nothing to be sorry about. Gavin deserved it," she said. When Chuck just nodded and continued looking down, Ellie grasped the sides of head and forced him to look her in the eye, "I will always be there to take care of you, Chuck. I promise." _

_"Okay," Chuck said in youthful acceptance._

_"Aces, Charles. You're aces."_

_Such big words for such a young girl but ones spoken with an honesty only a child could muster.  
_

_{End Flashback}  
_

"It's everything I always dreamed it would be," Ellie said as she pulled back to look at her brother as she wiped the few solitary tears from her eyes. "I love it. Thank you."

"You're welcome. Just please don't start pestering me about starting again."

"Okay, fine," Ellie laughed. She pulled her brother in for one more hug although significantly shorter this time and kissed his cheek. "Aces, Charles. You're aces."

*********

Eve sat in her hospital room reading a book. Uncle Casey had forcibly taken Trisha out to breakfast because she was getting cabin fever from staying with Eve. He was going to make sure she went back to his apartment with him tonight. Eve was grateful for the time alone. Not that she didn't love having company, it's just that its nice to have that 'me' time.

As she was reading the last page, a knock came on the door and Ethan poked his head in. Seeing that she was reading he quietly went about his business of updating her charts and getting the syringe and saline ready for the blood test.

Eve finished the last paragraph and set the book aside. "How's it going today, Ethan?"

He turned to glance at her from the trolley where he was getting the supplies, indicating he'd heard her and then started searching for the saline again, "Oh, today's been pretty good. What's up?"

Eve shrugged and joked, "Cheap ceiling and the cost of cheese."

Ethan laughed. She always seemed to be in a good mood regardless of circumstance. It made him want to be around her more. She intrigued him with her easy going nature and quick with a joke attitude. "What were you reading?"

"Just some book my mom got from the gift shop. Uncle Casey says I watch to many movies so I was broadening my horizons."

"Ah, my sister tells me that all the time. She was the reader between the two of us, that's for sure." He walked to the side of the bed and explained what he needed to do. "I'm just going to take a blood sample, okay?" Eve nodded as Ethan took out her IV. He flushed the IV out with saline and put the syringe in to take the blood sample, "If you're ever in need of a good book, let me know. My mom was an English Lit Professor so I can get you pretty much anything, except maybe romance novels, although Erin likes to think she's funny and sends them to me all the time."

Eve laughed, "That's okay. I'm not one for romance novels anyway."

Ethan flushed the IV again and reconnected the fluid to it. "You know, neither am I and I still can't seem to convince her to stop. But they make great fuel for fires."

"Uh," Eve said in amused shock, "You can't be serious."

Ethan laughed, "I'm not. But that's what I think about doing with them. I keep them in a box in my basement. If she finds it amusing enough to keep doing it, I'll let her have her fun."

"That's surprisingly sweet of you. Are you guys close?"

"More or less. She's my twin so we're as tight as expected with that classification. I always wanted a brother but she could kick any guys ass from here to Sunday so we did alright." Ethan's eyes widened as he slipped into casual conversation. "Whoops, sorry. We aren't supposed to swear in front of patients."

Eve waived off his comment, "Anh, no worries. Your secrets safe with me."

"Thanks," he said. "Well, I'd better get this back to Dr. Williams. He wants to see if you can start chemo earlier than originally planned."

Eve grimaced, "Great. Can't wait." She looked down to her hands and fidgeted with her nails.

Ethan looked apologetically at her, "I'm sorry you have to go through this."

Eve met his eye and offered a tight smile along with a sigh, "Oh, its okay. I guess there are worse things." _'I'm sure I lived some of them, too.' _She looked away again as she confessed, "I just . . . I don't want to watch my hair fall out again. I know that sounds awfully vain or whatever but I don't know- I just don't like it. It was harder than I thought it'd be last time."

Ethan shook his head understandingly, "It's not vain. My mom said the same thing."

"Your mom had cancer?"

"Ummhmm. Breast cancer. Its why I decided to go into oncology."

"Oh." She didn't think it was her place to inquire any further so she offered a supportive smile instead.

Ethan looked down and then back up, unsure if he should approach the subject and knowing it goes beyond patient-nurse relations. He let out a breath and decided to go for it. "Tell you what. Would it make you feel better if you shaved it off first so you don't have to watch it fall out?"

Eve shrugged, "I don't know. I've never tried it right off the bat like that."

"It might help. Because then its like you're making the choice for it go and not the other way around."

"Huh." Her face that look you get when someone made a good suggestion or pointed out something you hadn't considered before. "That's a good way of looking at it. I'll think about it."

Ethan smiled as her mood brightened, "Lemme know. Erin is a cosmetologist on the side so she has all the stuff. I'll even go first."

"Oh, you don't have to do it with me," she said.

"I know."

He didn't offer any explanation or further comment, leaving it at that as he stood to leave. Eve's just smiled brightly.

*******

Diane stood outside Eve's room, looking through the window. A young boy was talking with Eve. By his attire, she could tell he was an employee. At Eve's fallen expression, she was about to barge in there and give the young man a piece of her mind. But then Eve smiled largely at something the boy said as he got up to leave which made all ill thoughts towards him leave her mind. Diane opened the door before he could leave.

Ethan stood taller at the sight of the new person, taking a protective step in front of his patient. "Ma'am."

"Grams!" Eve said with her usual enthusiasm. She noticed him step in front of her before he saw who the person entering was. "Ethan, this is my Grandma, Diane. Grams, this is Ethan."

Diane noticed that he must be a military man. His opening with Ma'am either shows he has manners or it has been drilled into him over time. For some reason she thought it was both. She also noted that he took up a defensive position before her identity was revealed. It made her happy to know such a person was in charge of taking care of her granddaughter. She put out her hand for him to shake. "Good to meet you, Ethan." No need to call attention to her rank.

Ethan offered a smile as he grabbed her hand, "Nice to meet you, Ma'am." The tension eased from his body at the dissipation of a threat.

_'Yep definitely both.'_

At her knowing glance, Ethan said, "Sorry. Force of habit."

Diane nodded, "Manners are nothing to apologize for, young man."

He nodded in understanding and looked back to Eve and blushed a little, "Well, I'll be by later. I'll bring you another book or something."

Diane watched Ethan leave and then watched her granddaughter. Eve had a smile of endearment as he left. When the door latched, Diane said, "Nice boy."

Eve blushed biting back a smile and proceeded to do what she does best, changing the subject, "So, you up for a movie, Grams?"

********

Devon had called Chuck earlier to tell him that Ellie and he were going to be later than they originally thought so their little conversation would have to wait. Chuck could barely contain his relief. Maybe he could avoid this whole thing after all. Chuck and Sarah moved some of Chuck's things over while waiting for the furniture to be delivered. They've mainly been working in silence, quietly filtering what goes where. Most of his gaming systems have been brought over already along with his TV, computer and desk. Chuck was recreating his setup from before. Sarah was being kind of distant and quiet which usually means she ruminating over things. He knew when to keep his distance sometimes.

Sarah was in the kitchen putting dishes away. She'd kept her distance from him since breakfast but she wouldn't be able to explain why. It felt like the longer she was around Chuck, the more real he became. He's always seemed so out of this world to her, so unattainable to someone like her. She's never known anyone to be so kind, to be so giving, to be so . . . everything. There wasn't anything he couldn't do and he was really his own biggest challenge. His lack of confidence in himself was completely unwarranted. With every mission, he's always pulled through despite the lack of training and know how. He deserved better than what she offered. He deserved all the normalcy he wanted and Sarah is anything but normal.

A knock on the door interrupted Sarah's actions. She opened the door and found the NSA delivery team. Chuck was told to stay in his room so that they could keep his identity secret to which he'd respond, "At least its not the car and I'll have my X-box with me." That had earned him a smile from Sarah and now he's been tucked away ever since.

"Agent Walker," the man said carrying one end of a box in while she opened the door further. "Shouldn't take longer than fifteen minutes to get all of it."

Sarah nodded curtly as the men left to get more things. She went back to the kitchen and kept a watchful eye on the open door, sharpening her knives as she waited. You never know when you'll need them. It's always best to be prepared.

Chuck heard the knock and knew he had to stay put until Sarah gave him the okay. He turned down the volume on his game so he didn't cause any undue attention. It was about eleven o'clock so he had lots of time to kill and what better way to do that than with some good ol' fashioned MarioKart. He hasn't played this game in years but it was fun to reminisce with it. He was on the last lap on the last board before Sarah came for him.

She pushed open the door a little more and leaned against the frame watching him. Sarah was unfamiliar with this game so she silently watched him play. He got some sort of mushroom thing to boost him around a dinosaur looking character. He weaved in and out between the girl character and a shark looking thing on the rainbow track. He shot off red and green shells, knocking the other players out of his way as he approached the finish line. He crossed in first.

"Woo hoo!" he said excitedly and threw his hands in the air. "First in all the races. I still got it!"

Sarah smiled at his childish side. She only hoped he could always keep it, no matter what. "Good game I see."

Chuck looked back to Sarah as the points started to ring in, "Yeah. I haven't played this game in forever so it's nice to know I haven't lost my touch." The music played in the background as the computer moved his character and two others automatically to the front of a castle and propping them up on stand. A gold cup shot up with glitter surrounding it and a strange voice said, "Congratulations," and the picture of his green lizard character stayed on screen. "So the furniture is here?" At Sarah's nod, Chuck said, "Cool. Is there a lot to put together?"

"Not really. Just the bookcases and the entertainment unit." She gave her voice a hint of singsong and tried to sound enticing, "Wanna move some furniture around?" Her eyes lit up playfully as she smiled.

Chuck dramatically rolled his eyes, "Okay. If I have to."

**********

Two hours later, they were sitting on the floor in their newly decorated apartment. They tried a couple different setups before going with the one they have. Sarah had gone to grab some lunch while Chuck stayed home putting together the entertainment center and bookcases which were probably going to be used for movies or games but either way. Sarah convinced Chuck to have the Wii in the living room. The game was growing on her and she liked being able to play it with Chuck. Currently they were eating Subway sandwiches and watching the newly set up TV. In the short time Sarah had been gone, Chuck set up the entire sound system, VCR, DVD player and stereo. She had been amazed at how much it felt like home when she walked in. Never before had she had that feeling, the complete relief that comes when you know you're home.

Chuck started cleaning up their trash and organizing the boxes along the side of the room.

"This room is missing something," Sarah said looking around.

"You think they forgot to bring something you bought?"

"No, that's not it," she said as she walked to her room down the hall. She rummaged through the few personal belongings she had until she found what she was looking for. She grabbed the item and walked back to the living room. She placed the item on the end table underneath the lamp. "There," she said, "all fixed." She smiled brightly over to Chuck as he walked to see what she got. It was the picture of them together that she once used as target practice on his face but it was now fixed.

Chuck smiled, "Not quite." He disappeared to his newly setup room and grabbed the picture of them from Halloween. He placed it on the opposite end table and said, "Perfect."

Sarah looked at the picture with a smile and nodded her head, "Perfect." She and Chuck held each others gaze much longer than appropriate and Sarah self consciously looked away, "So, ah, ar-are you ready to go?"

Chuck took a deep breath and nodded, "Yeah. I'm ready."

*********

They got there before Ellie and Devon did so they sat patiently in the car listening to music. Chuck hummed along to the song and tapped his fingers against the door. Sarah smiled, "You think you'd have learned how to play the drums with all tapping you do all the time."

Chuck looked over at Sarah with a grin, "Oh, no. Not me. The drums are far too wild an instrument for my taste. They're cool, don't get me wrong. There's nothing like a moving beat but I'm more of a mellow guy. But Morgan kicks ass at the drums."

"Morgan plays the drums?"

"Yeah. He's pretty good too."

"I'm surprised he hasn't ever mentioned it."

Chuck looked down, a look of guilt passing across his face, "Well, um, he sort of gave them up."

"Really? Why?" Sarah wondered why he seemed guilty about that.

Chuck let out a breath, "Ah, well . . ." He nodded his head from side to side, thinking of the best way to approach it. _'She's gonna learn about it anyway. I have Morgan's drums in there.'_ "Okay, here's the thing, we were in a band and after certain . . . events took place, I decided not to play any more."

Sarah nodded, "And Morgan being Morgan stopped too." It all makes sense now.

"Pretty much. I told him he should stick with it but he wouldn't listen."

Sarah thought back over the story realizing he said that he'd stopped playing. "Wait, so you play an instrument?"

Chuck palms were sweating and he nervously rubbed them against his thighs, "Yeah, I used to. I haven't for a while now."

She tentatively asked her next question, "Which one?"

Chuck shrugged, "The main one was the piano. But I know some songs on the guitar and saxophone. And once I figured out how to play Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star on the violin."

Sarah's eyebrows shot up in surprise, "Wow. That's a lot. What made you st-"

"Oh, look. There's Ellie and Devon," Chuck stood to get out of the car avoiding the question. "Hey guys. How was cake testing?"

"Oh, we just had the best time," Ellie smiled and looked at Devon as though they were hiding something.

Devon blushed and turned away. "So how bout we get to work?"

"I don't even want to know," Chuck said shaking his head. Chuck turned and punched in the code to open the garage door. As the chain rattled its way pulling up the door, Chuck turned to Ellie and said, "By the way, I forgot to mention-"

"Charles Irving Bartowski!" Ellie said angrily as the door opened fully revealing the contents stored there. "You said you were going to get rid of it!"

_'Whoops. Probably should have mentioned that the sale fell through and I forgot to re-post the ad.'_ Chuck looked apologetically as Ellie, "I'm sorry, Ellie. I tried to sell it but the guy ended up not having the money for it and I forgot to put the ad back into the paper. I swear it's only been parked here. I haven't done anything with it."

"You promised you'd get rid of it after your accident."

Sarah was confused. Devon seemed to be more silent in his anger at Chuck but Ellie was clearly pissed. "What accident?"

Ellie turned away from Chuck and took a calming breath. "About a year before you and Chuck met, Chuck was in a very serious motorcycle accident and almost died. He promised me he would get rid of the bike but there it is," she explained throwing her hand out to point at the bike. She turned back to Chuck, "Why would you want to keep it anyway, after everything?"

Sarah felt a weird pang in her chest when Ellie said that Chuck had almost died. She couldn't believe that she might not ever have been able to know him.

Chuck tried to calm Ellie some more, "I'm sorry, Ellie. I really am. I . . . don't know what else to say. I haven't ridden it in years. I promise."

"Chuck, please just get rid of it, okay? No more motorcycles. You're not invincible."

Yet another pang and reminder passed for Sarah.

Chuck nodded. "I know. But-"

"No buts, Chuck. I can't loose you over something as trivial as that."

"But it wasn't even my fault."

"That doesn't matter. It happened once, it could happen again."

"Yeah, but its up there with the odds of like lightening hitting the same place twice."

"That's not the point, Chuck."

Chuck's shoulders slumped, "Fine. I'll put it back on the market tomorrow."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome. Let's just get this stuff and get out of here." Chuck sounded annoyed but went to work anyway.

Ellie followed him but Devon and Sarah hung back, tentatively entering and not knowing exactly where to start. Sarah could see boxes and boxes of artwork. There were computer parts and halfway built mechanical devices. In the corner was this huge box that looked like a computer out of the eighties. There was a decently sized piano taking up most of the space with Morgan's drum set resting all around it. He had a broken Super Nintendo from back in the day. One of the boxes has sheet music in it. along with some Cd's. There were two boxes filled with home movies. It was clear that Ellie was the one behind most of the videos. They mostly seemed to center around Chuck, like a parent would have of their child. Sarah glanced over some of the titles, her finger moving deftly across the tops. _Chuck's school plays, Chuck Madrigals performance, Chuck concert, Ellie's college acceptance, Chuck and Ellie's graduation with Valedictorian speeches by both, Chuck's Julliard audition- _Sarah did a double take on the last one. _'Chuck auditioned for Julliard?'_ Sarah swallowed.

Chuck saw an odd look cross Sarah's face as she was looking through the home videos. "Everything alright?"

"Huh?" Sarah cleared her thoughts away from the videos, "Oh, yeah. Everything's fine." She smiled and picked up the box to take back to the car.

Chuck watched her as she left. He shook his head. _'She can be odd sometimes.'_

Ellie followed shortly behind. Sarah was putting the box in the trunk of her car. Ellie noticed she was being awfully quiet. She usually is quiet but it seems different this time. She watched Sarah closed the trunk. Her eyes were shut tightly as if she were trying to compose herself. "Sarah? Are you okay?"

Sarah's head whipped in the direction of Ellie. It looked like she was going to grab for something but when she realized it was Ellie she stopped. "Oh, Ellie. I'm fine."

"Sorry if I startled you."

"Its okay."

Sarah was still acting strangely. "Are you sure everything is alright?"

"Yes," she said nodding her head but the quickly changed to shaking, "No." She paused as if wondering about asking. "Ellie, can I ask you something?"

"Of course."

Sarah looked as if she shouldn't be asking this question but she did anyway. "Chuck's accident? Was it really that bad?"

Ellie licked her lips and nodded slowly. "It was touch and go for a while but he pulled through. Is that all that's bothering you?"

"I think so." Sarah leaned against her car, "Its just weird to think I might not have been able know him. I can't seem to picture . . ." Sarah trailed off shaking her head. She definitely shouldn't be voicing that.

Ellie smiled, knowing where she was going with it. "I know what you mean." Ellie set the box down in the back seat of her car and then leaned opposite of Sarah.

She looked like she was about to ask another question but then closed her mouth. She scanned around the area and then looked at Ellie again, "Why do you think Chuck wouldn't tell me he could dance and draw and play the piano?"

"With the dancing, he doesn't think he's good so he's more embarrassed by it than anything else. He especially doesn't want to look like a buffoon in front of you. And with the drawing, Chuck gave that up a while after our mom left. I guess it was just too painful for him. He's a very tender guy so sometimes he takes things really hard that other people wouldn't find so difficult. He eventually gets over them but it takes longer for him sometimes. He only drew for school assignments and when he took the required art classes to graduate. His teachers wanted him to do more but he always politely declined."

Sarah smiled fondly and shook her head, "Why doesn't it surprise me that he politely declined?"

"Because that's Chuck."

"Yeah, that's Chuck."

Ellie shifted her feet as she continued, "As for the piano, well, that was the one thing besides computers he's ever said he was good at. Our dad told him since he was so quick at typing he should try piano. He was a natural too. He always had this crazy love for music so it's not surprising he'd venture out from just listening to it. When Dad stopped sending letters and he got busy at Stanford, he just stopped. I think his Julliard audition was the last time I heard him play although there was that one time when Jill was in town and we were at a work party but I only caught the end of it. That was the night he found out about Jill and Bryce. I really miss seeing his art and hearing him play music."

"I can only imagine. I was shocked when Devon brought out that picture. It was so life like, so real."

"I know. Here, let me show you something." Ellie opened her car door and grabbed her purse. She opened up her day planner and pulled out a worn out piece of paper that was folded in fourths. Ellie treated it as though it were treasure as she carefully opened the paper and handed it to Sarah. "This was the first time he had ever drawn a person."

Sarah looked at the picture and recognized the girl, "That's you."

"Uh huh."

"Wow!" Sarah was taken aback at the picture. The moment was captured beautifully. You could see Ellie looking out the window and feel her want to be out there, instead feeling like she was trapped inside. The only color on the page was the stain on her shirt, marking its importance of some kind. You could tell by the shading that it was done sometime in the afternoon to early evening. Sarah's never really felt moved by art. When missions involved going into museums and what not she didn't really care to look at the pictures. Bryce always had this wonderment about art and would comment about how she should slow down and take a look sometimes. She would only waive off his comment. _'I wonder if Chuck had something to do with that.'_ She might like this art because of who was drawing it but in any case, there was no denying his talent. "How old was he when he drew this?"

"Eight."

Sarah's eyebrows shot up incredulously, "Eight?!" _'What was I doing at eight?'_

"I know. It's crazy. I was so devastated when he didn't want to do it anymore." Ellie looked down to the photo in Sarah's hands, still as amazed by it today as she was then. "I've kept that with me everyday since he drew it. There's so much hairspray on it to keep it from smearing. I don't know what I'd do if something happened to that picture. I should probably get it photocopied but it just wouldn't be the same."

"Probably not." She handed the picture back to Ellie and Ellie put it away just as carefully as she got it out. The girls made their way back to the storage unit.

**********

It took them a few trips but they got it all back to the apartment except for the piano and the motorcycle. Chuck wanted to sell the piano too but Ellie convinced him to keep it. They had enough room in their living room for it to be able to occupy the corner without being intrusive. There were so many boxes of artwork that they had to put some in Sarah's room. He was eventually going to go through them like he promised Ellie before getting rid of them. Sarah didn't want him to get rid of them but she didn't feel like she was supposed to have an opinion on the matter. Ellie had taken most of the home movies and all of their mothers things back to her place with Devon. She decided she would go through it later. Sarah had discreetly grabbed a couple that she wanted to watch. She mixed them in with the art work she took into her room.

They finalized plans to have the date night that Devon and Ellie won on Friday night and parted ways. Chuck and Sarah set up the master bedroom, which would be Sarah's bedroom and then the 'guest' bedroom would be Chuck's. After they had set up the bed in the master bedroom, they laid down to rest for a bit and started talking. They had every inclination just to go back to the hotel.

They unintentionally fell asleep together for the first time in their new home.


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: Wow guys! I am so sorry for the delay! Tons of people I know are getting married this time of year so I've been busy with that. Poa suggested getting a beta which BillAtWork is gonna do (thanks Bill) and I struggled with this chapter too. The flow was all weird and I just didn't have time between everything I needed to get done to fix it.

By the way, the movie mentioned is totally worth checking out. It's hilarious! Granted it was made in 1938 so if your not into old movies you may not like it. It's still fun though. And if anyone checks it out, lemme know what you think =)

Chapter ten

Sarah awoke the early the next morning letting out a sigh of contentment. Her eyes remained closed as she took in the scent of Chuck laying just a breath away. Awaking to the sight of his familiar face brought an involuntary smile to her face as a feeling of home washed over her with his presence. _'Stop it, Walker.'_ She shook her head and banished all thoughts of that nature through distraction. Looking beyond him, she started to notice they were not at the hotel. Memories of last night flooded her mind, reminding her that she was at their newly furnished apartment.

Looking down at herself, she recognized she was still in the same t-shirt and jeans she had worn yesterday, laying on a mattress that had no sheets on it. They haven't been to the store to purchase new sheets yet. They didn't expect to stay here last night. She realized, thankfully or not, that she didn't wake up snuggled next to Chuck. They were both still in the same position they fell asleep in last night- on their sides, facing each other. The only difference being that their feet were tangled together as if they sought out the other's under their own volition.

She eased her feet from between Chuck's and sat up as gently as possible. The slightly off white carpet felt good under her bare feet as she padded her way out of the room. She ran her fingers through her hair before putting it up in a ponytail and going into the kitchen. _'We don't have any food, or coffee, or anything,'_ she thought as she looked around the space, everything neat and tidy from all her fussing yesterday. Next to the door were a pair of Chuck's flip flops so she decided to go over to Ellie's and ask to borrow things for breakfast. _'We have to eat. It's not like the General can get mad about that.'_ She quietly closed the door behind her as she walked across the courtyard and knocked on Ellie's door.

It was Devon who answered. He appeared a little distraught at Sarah's presence. "Uh, hey, Sarah," he mumbled, sidestepping the door as if making room for her to enter and to create as much distance between them as possible. He didn't know what it was but something about what happened yesterday with Chuck made him rethink Sarah. Chuck didn't want Sarah to know what ever it was that Devon knew. He still wasn't sure what it was he knows. And, not only that, Chuck didn't want Casey to know. He didn't know why Casey was involved but something strange was going on and he would get to the bottom of it. "What- ah, what's up?"

Sarah regarded Devon curiously. He was acting strangely. Come to think of it, he'd been acting weird since yesterday. "Nothing," she said with a slight raise of her brow and a small smile, "I just wanted to see if you guys have some food I could borrow to make breakfast. We haven't been able to go shopping yet." Movement happened past him, capturing her attention. She saw Ellie come around the corner dressed in her scrubs. "Hi, Ellie."

"Sarah? What are you doing here?" she asked with a smile. "I thought you guys went back to the hotel last night."

Sarah smiled slightly, "Well, that was the plan but then we got to setting up the bedroom, moving the furniture around and all that stuff. I guess we fell asleep."

"Aww, you're first night together at your new home. How did it go?" The genuine interest the Bartowski family could muster was one of a kind. Any time you spoke with one of them it was as if what ever you were saying was the most important thing, even if it was just about spending the night with your 'boyfriend' in your new apartment for the first time.

Sarah took a tentative step into the apartment, noting how Devon recoiled slightly but not enough to set off any alarm bells for Ellie. "It was fine. I was going to make some breakfast but we haven't been able to go to the store-"

"Oh, say no more," Ellie interrupted. "Raid the fridge."

"Thanks," Sarah said walking quickly past Devon. He knew something. She was definitely going to have a talk with Chuck. It must have something to do with yesterday at breakfast. The picture was too convenient of a cover up, but still smart thinking on Chuck's part. It could explain away all his nervousness from that morning since he was fairly relaxed afterward. She followed Ellie into the kitchen, going straight for the fridge. She leaned in to grab a few eggs, a tomato, some cheese, mushrooms and onions. Closing the refrigerator, she went to the spice rack to grab some of those.

Ellie went to the cupboard to get their extra coffee mix. "I didn't know you knew how to cook," she said, resting the container next to what Sarah had already grabbed.

Sarah glanced over the spices, choosing what to get as she replied, "Well, I'm no where near as good as you are but I can cook some things. Just don't ask me to deep fry anything if you remember eating anything at all from the Weinerlicious."

Ellie laughed, "That's okay. I'm not a fan of fried things anyway." She got Sarah a stick of butter and some pieces of bread. Grabbing a pitcher, she poured in some milk for Sarah and got a cup of sugar for the coffee.

Sarah took the spices she chose over to the other things on the counter. The pile was quite a bit larger than she had intended upon. She reviewed all the items, picturing how best to carry it all and make it in one trip.

"I'll help you carry it, Sarah. I'm on my way out to work anyway," she said picking up the milk, coffee and sugar to carry.

"Thanks," Sarah said picking up the rest of the items.

*********

A few minutes after Ellie had left, Diane sat outside at the fountain listening to the peaceful sound of water trickle down as she waited for Casey and Trisha. Ellie had offered her a ride into the hospital this morning but Diane declined saying she'd go with Trisha and Casey. She was finding it difficult not to like Dr. Bartowski. Her fiancé was a nice fellow but he said awesome way too much for her liking. It was almost hard to believe he was a doctor sometimes. With Ellie though, she made her feel right at home- cooking dinner, cleaning, even offering to do the laundry. Ellie was able to multitask like no one Diane has ever known. The woman was organized and adaptable. Adaptability is something very important to have in life.

Diane looked over her shoulder and saw Agent Walker cooking breakfast. The asset had yet to show up so Diane took this opportunity to observe the lone agent. If someone had asked her if Sarah Walker could cook, Diane would have answered no, but here she was cooking. Sarah Walker was definitely a woman of many talents. She was one of a kind in her field. When Diane was tasked to this mission, she was given the opportunity to look at both the personal and professional file of Sarah Walker. Her professional file was a string of successfully accomplished missions hardly ever veering from standard protocols. Her personal file on the other hand was a string of disasters recounting stories of con jobs and barely evaded captures. Obviously, the file did not contain great detail about her past but the CIA had been tracking her father for quite some time so they had plenty of information. Once Diane finished her review, she felt a strange sense that Sarah was running away from making choices for herself. Although Sarah would deny it, she allowed others to dictate her actions. She blindly followed her father in his schemes; she was an easy grab for Graham to recruit; she fell prey to the charm of Bryce Larkin. While undeniably she was an intelligent human being, she was still easily molded by gentle persuasion from figures of authority or superiority. That's how the CIA operates, by choosing smart, beautiful people that they are able to manipulate and design into what they want.

However, the Sarah Walker she was watching now was not the Sarah Walker who started this assignment, just as the John Casey now isn't the same as before. Diane wasn't quite sure what to think about it. She was still processing so to speak. She knew they both were compromised to a certain degree. That's only bound to happen on long term missions such as these- David and Trisha being a prime example. She should reassign both of them but their effectiveness as a team is much more successful than most. It made for a tough decision on her end.

Casey and Trisha walked out of the apartment to see the General watching Chuck and Sarah's apartment. Her expression was thoughtful and calculating. Casey could only hope that with the General being here personally it didn't get Walker reassigned. He knew both Walker and Chuck had been struggling these past few months. You'd have to be blind not to notice and even then you probably would. But at the end of the day, Team Bartowski got the job done. "General, are you ready to go?"

The General directed her attention to Casey as she stood to leave, "Yes. Let's go." The trio left the courtyard and climbed into the Crown Vic.

**************

Twenty minutes later, Sarah was done cooking breakfast. She didn't realize until she was almost finished that this was almost the exact thing she made him when they were in the suburbs. As a matter of fact, Chuck had the same expression on his face as he rounded the corner today as he did that day. "Good morning."

"Good morning," Chuck said slowly, looking at the food and freshly brewed coffee, "I- I thought we didn't have food."

"We didn't," Sarah said with a small shrug, "I went over to Ellie's and got some."

"Oh, is she still here?" Chuck asked looking around for Ellie, assuming that's why she would be cooking.

Sarah smiled letting out a breath. _'Of course he would think that.'_ "You and I both know that if Ellie were here, I would not be the one in the kitchen. I'm cooking for you."

"Really?" Chuck smiled and rubbed his hands together. She's cooking for him. "If it's anything like last time, I'm sure it will be delish." He took a seat at the bar patiently waiting.

Sarah put an omelet on a plate and slid it across the counter to him. "We need to talk," she said as she grabbed a knife and started buttering some toast. With her back turned to him, she continued, "When were you going to tell me Devon knows?"

Her tone was slightly accusatory and angry but her body language was calm and at ease. '_Not good.' _Chuck gulped as he swallowed a bite of his omelet. "Ah, h-how did you know?"

Sarah turned to him and slid a plate of toast over to him resting her hands on the counter top. "I didn't for sure but thanks for clearing that up." Chuck was painfully aware of the butter knife she held in her hand and hoped he didn't learn what it felt like to have one imbedded in his body. She dropped the knife on the counter with a loud clank, an angry scowl staking claim of her face. While Chuck was glad she didn't have that knife in her hand, he knew she had knives somewhere close at all times so he wasn't out of the woods yet. And she was pissed. "What happened, Chuck? And it had better be good," she said pointing her finger at him leaving the 'or else' off but it still lingered.

Chuck started quickly with the explanation, "It wasn't my fault, I swear! Remember when Beckman ordered the 49B a few weeks ago?"

"Yeah, Chuck," Sarah said as she grabbed a napkin and furiously started to wipe down the counter, cleaning off the bread crumbs. "It's kind of hard to forget when your performance goes under evaluation."

Chuck could feel the anger pouring off her in waves, "Well, she contacted me through the TV in my bedroom-"

"And he saw her there?"

"No, no. It wasn't like that at all. We were done talking but her name and the time stamp were at the bottom of the screen. He saw it when he came in. I didn't even have time to react. I told him it was for a game that Morgan and I played. Crisis averted, or so I thought. But now General Beckman is staying there and he figured it out. I know he doesn't seem like it all the time, but he's a smart guy, Sarah."

"And what exactly did you tell him when you went into the bedroom?"

"Nothing!" Chuck insisted, "Nothing, I told him nothing. I couldn't talk to him there. Casey has that place so bugged up I would be on the next train to the bunker and Devon would be killed," Chuck said fervently. He could tell Sarah relaxed a little and he was going to keep this last part to himself but she would probably find out anyway. "But-"

"Oh, Chuck. Please don't tell me 'but'."

Chuck's face became pained as he pressed on, "I kind of told him we'd talk about it later."

"Chuck!" Sarah exclaimed, throwing the napkin in the trash then bringing the hand to rest against her forehead. Silence followed soon after and she started pacing the kitchen, thinking. There has to be a way out of this. Their cover cannot be blown. At least it was Devon and not some Fulcrum agent. Sarah had a slight moment of panic. _'What if Devon is Fulcrum?_' Sarah shook off the thought. _'How could I possibly entertain that notion? If Devon were Fulcrum, we would have already had issues. Stop being irrational.' _She let out a few deep breaths to get her anger under control as she processed. "Okay, okay. Here's what we're going to do. We'll tell him your status as an asset but that's it. Nothing else. You're sure he won't blab?"

Chuck nodded in response.

Sarah looked seriously at Chuck hoping he understand the importance of what he is agreeing to, "I mean absolutely, one hundred and ten percent positive he won't say _anything_ at all to anyone."

"Yes, Sarah. He's Captain Awesome. He won't say anything."

"He better not." Sarah sighed, "I hope you're right, Chuck."

"What about the General and Casey?"

"We're not going to say anything. I trust you when you say Devon won't say anything but that doesn't change that no one else can know except the three of us. For now, we need to be really cautious. We'll talk to him today. Maybe we can use the excuse of picking up the gym equipment from the hotel. At least it isn't bugged so we can explain."

With Sarah calming down, it was easier for Chuck to relax a little. He lifted his arms like a body builder and mocked himself, "Yeah, cause these guns of steel could really help Devon get them downstairs." He smiled as a sort of peace offering. He never liked it when she was mad at him but this truly hadn't been his fault. Selfishly, he was happy Sarah knows. She would know what the right thing to do was and would keep him from saying too much that would get both Devon and him killed or worse.

Sarah rolled her eyes and let out a breath. She offered a slight smile in acceptance of his apology. She couldn't stay mad at him. Besides, she was never really mad at him. She was more upset at the situation. Technically, it was Beckman's fault. If she hadn't contacted Chuck at home or even thought about issuing the 49B then Devon would never have found out. That may be a skewed version of things but still. _'That's my story and I'm sticking to it.'_

*********

The thirty minute car ride to the hospital was made in silence, all parties seemingly lost in their own thoughts. Without thought or direction they all made their way down the familiar path to Eve's room. She looked pretty good throughout most of the day yesterday but tired more quickly than recently. It seems as if the magical effects of the pain medications were catching up with her and she was starting to feel sick again. Well, she always felt sick but it's not as masked as when she first started them. They weren't really sure what to expect from today. Of course she would be happy to see all of them and be as lively as possible and joke around but they all seemed to feel the sense of dread lurking around the corner.

Casey quietly pushed the door open and held it for Trisha and Diane. Eve's attention was drawn away from the old movie she was watching in the darkness. "Hey, hey," she said tiredly but smiling.

All were immediately concerned. It looked as though Eve had melted into the bed as she looked at them through half-lidded eyes. "Eve. How are you doing?" Trisha asked worriedly.

Eve swallowed with effort as she answered, "I'm pretty tired. I think today is gonna be one of _those _days. But that's okay. You can't have good days all the time." Her breaths came in heavy and deep as she fought to stay awake. "Ethan said Dr. Williams would be in a little later to discuss some things with you guys. He wanted to tell me last night but I asked him to wait for you guys."

"Eve, you could have called us," Trisha said and then looked at Casey, "See, John, this is why I should stay here with her."

"Mom, it's okay. I think it's a good idea for you to stay with Uncle Casey. You don't like hospitals anyway and while I appreciate your willingness to do things you don't like to, I don't need to be coddled. You're gonna be more comfortable there."

Trisha opened her mouth to respond but Diane rested her hand against Trisha's forearm causing Trisha to look over at her. Diane shook her head and lipped, _'Pick your battles,'_ to her. Trisha sighed, "Alright, I won't stay."

Casey decided a change of subject was in order, "What are you watching, Newt?"

Eve smiled, "Bringing Up Baby. It's one of my favorites."

John sat in his normal chair by the window and directed his attention to the movie. Carey Grant's character David Huxley was wandering around the house wearing a frilly, feminine robe talking about looking for his clothes or something. He'd never seen this movie. Eve liked old black and white films, which was not a common interest he shared but he would watch them with her anyway. He had to admit she was pretty amusing to watch silent films with too. She would make up dialogue and guess at the story from reading the description on the back. He even participated on the very, _very_ rare occasion.

Eve smiled and let out a strained laugh at a comment from the movie. Casey turned his attention away from the movie and watched her instead. Every breath took so much energy away from her. You could see her struggle to stay awake and focused. In all the time she'd been sick, even with the first time, he'd never felt as scared that this could be it. Scared was never something he felt. Casey's scare people. They don't get scared. It's not on the repertoire.

Diane smiled, "Mine, too. I didn't think you had the option of choosing the movies. I thought you watched what was provided by the hospital."

"Well, normally I do but Ethan brought in an extra DVD player he had," she said, moving just her finger to point above the TV, "It's right up there. He comes in to change the movie when he can. But now you guys are here so he doesn't have to."

_'I bet he will though,'_ Diane thought.

************

Chuck and Sarah drove to meet Devon at the hotel to grab the rest of Sarah's things. They set up a time to meet since Devon went mountain biking that morning. "So how do you think this is gonna go?" Chuck asked, his nervousness shining through.

Sarah glanced over to him and then back to the road. "I'm not sure." She adjusted her grip on the wheel, pausing before she continued, "And you're certain he won't say anything and that there are no skeletons in his closet we should know about?"

Chuck gave Sarah the same glance she gave him moments before, "He can handle it. If there is anyone that wears his heart on his sleeve more than I do, it's Devon. You always know where he stands."

Sarah nodded, "Okay. We have to keep it simple. Nothing about the Intersect, nothing about missions. You are just an asset. We are just your handlers."

Chuck nodded, "What if he asks about _how_ I became an asset?"

"Then we say it is top secret, need-to-know information that we cannot divulge."

They pulled into the parking lot to see Devon anxiously waiting by his car. Chuck let out a loud breath. "Alright, you ready?"

"Ready as I'll ever be." As Chuck was reaching for the handle Sarah quickly stopped him, "Chuck." He slowly turned back towards her to wait for her to continue. She wasn't sure she wanted to share this with him but she thought it would be appropriate. Sarah swallowed and shook her head a little before explaining, "I've never had my cover blown before."

Chuck nodded and looked down in his lap, "Somehow that doesn't surprise me. When they said I got the best, they really meant it."

She nodded her head and got out of the car, Chuck following behind. He met her at the front of the car and held out his hand for her. She grasped it tightly and looked in his eyes. With a resolved breath and simultaneous nod, they made their way to Devon.

Devon noted the small exchange they had in the car. _'So Chuck told Sarah.'_ It baffled him to no end how well they got along. Yesterday at breakfast, they didn't say anything but somehow still ended up having a conversation. He really hoped this was some sort of gross misunderstanding. From what he knew about Sarah, which wasn't much, he liked her. But what ever was going on involved her and somehow Chuck was mixed up in it too. He silently fell in step with them next to Chuck as they made their way into the hotel.

Spencer opened the door for the three. "Miss Walker. Welcome back. One more day until you're done with us for good," he said with a small chuckle.

Sarah offered a small smile in return, "Oh, Spencer. I could visit you know."

Spencer laughed, "I'd rather you didn't. It might mean there is trouble on the relationship front if someone has to spend the night." Spencer turned his attention to Chuck and pointed his finger at him, "Now, Chuck, I'm only gonna say this once. You take care of this lady, you hear? Because if I see either one of you back here I will personally see to it that the other is here too."

Chuck laughed, "I'll do my best, Spencer."

"And who is this?" Spencer asked.

"Oh, this is Devon. He is gonna be my brother-in-law in just over a week," Chuck said with a smile. "He is helping us with Sarah's exercise equipment."

"Oh," Spencer said raising his eyebrows and extending out his hand, "Good to meet you, young man."

Devon shook his hand, "Yes, sir. Awesome to meet you." It was odd how composed both Sarah and Chuck were acting despite the fact that moments before they didn't seem to be.

"Well, I'll let you kids get back to moving," Spencer said holding open the door. "I'll keep my eye out for you on the way down. Exercise equipment can't be easy to move."

"Thanks, Spencer."

The elevator ride was made in silence. Devon was waiting for Chuck or Sarah to make the first move as he wasn't sure what to expect. It didn't seem like they were too eager to start anyway but he felt like he should wait. He shuffled his feet, adjusting his weight while waiting for the ride to end. This would be the first time Devon has ever been to Sarah's place. Once the ding sounded, Chuck and Sarah casually strode out, hand in hand, Devon waited a bit so he could walk behind them.

Sarah got her key out and unlocked the door opening it just slightly. She turned and looked between Chuck and Devon. "Wait here," she said going inside. Even though it was her private residence, she still wanted to ensure there were no bugs. Besides, it was standard protocol to do a sweep.

Devon looked over at Chuck, "What-"

Chuck put his hand up, silently indicating Devon to keep quiet. They waited outside for five minutes or so. Devon was starting to get antsy when suddenly Sarah opened the door for them, "We're clear, come in."

_'Clear?_' Devon thought as he followed Chuck inside, duly noting Sarah locking the door behind him. She went over to Chuck's alarm clock and turned the radio on and up just in case. Chuck sat on the bed and indicated for Devon to do the same. As the silence persisted, Devon glanced around the apartment/hotel room. There wasn't much in it. The room was large and open. It didn't really have a homey feel to it.

Sarah paced in front of them, thinking of where to start. Her arms were folded protectively across her chest. _'This could end poorly,'_ she thought to herself. She looked to Chuck with a raised brow._ 'Do you want to start or should I?'_

Chuck responded with a look of his own that said he would.

Devon was still amazed they could do that. He knew that he and Ellie did it too but it's different when you see it happening.

"Devon, I have to say this first. You cannot tell anyone what is said in here. You cannot make any passing comments about it. It is imperative that you do not ever, ever, ever bring it up. Can you do that?"

Devon gave them both a calculating look. If he wasn't intrigued before, he was definitely intrigued now. "I can do that."

"Good," Chuck said visibly relieved. "I was hoping you'd say that. Okay, um, where to start-" Chuck looked down collecting himself before looking up, "Devon, I am a high level CIA asset and Sarah and Casey are my handlers. For the past two years they've had to watch and protect my every move."

Devon looked disbelievingly at Chuck as he processed what he was being told, "You're being serious?" He turned to Sarah, noting her stoic expression, "He's being serious?"

"Devon," Chuck said directing Devon's attention back to him, "I need you to help me. I need you to be cool about this. I need you to be awesome. Can you be awesome?"

"You're a spy, Chuck?" Devon asked his voice slightly higher than normal.

Chuck bobbed his head back and forth, "Yeah, more or less. Yeah."

"Whoa . . . wow!" Devon wore a shocked expression as his mouth hung open at the revelation. "This is . . . _awesome_!" he said with a small laugh and large grin. He put his hand up for a high five from Chuck which Chuck gladly returned. "I knew you weren't a loser that worked at the Buy More."

Sarah furrowed her brow in annoyance at Devon using _loser_ so soon after she fixed that slight problem and also at Devon's reaction. "Loser is a bit harsh," she said defensively.

"And the Buy More is real," Chuck added.

Devon nodded exaggeratedly, "Awesome. So I guess I can't ask anything specific then?"

Sarah and Chuck shook their head together, "No."

"Well, that still explains a lot." He couldn't believe it. '_Chuck? A spy? Bartowski, Charles Bartowski. . . . Do they really do that?'_ Devon looked curiously between Chuck and Sarah. "Wait, are you guys not a real couple then?"

"No. It's our cover," Sarah said adjusting her grip on her arms. "It was the easiest way to explain my appearance and keep him safe."

Devon heard her words but her tone sounded like some sort of variation to sad and her body language indicated that as well. "You coulda fooled me. Oh, wait, you did. Ellie is not going to be happy about this."

"Devon, no," Chuck said, "No telling Ellie. Remember no one can know. You have no idea how much of a risk this is letting you know."

"Okay. But what does this have to do with Diane? How is she involved?"

Sarah replied, "General Beckman is our superior officer."

"But isn't the CIA a civilian run thing and not a military?"

"Yes, but this is a joint mission between the CIA and the NSA," Chuck said.

"Chuck," Sarah warned giving him a stern look.

"Right, sorry," Chuck said raising his hands in surrender, "Won't say anything else."

Devon nodded. "If you're the CIA part, then that makes John the NSA part. Okay, now his promotion makes so much more sense."

"His promotion?" Sarah asked confused.

"Yeah, Ellie told me. He is a Colonel now as of a couple days ago I guess. She is gonna have dinner at some point to celebrate for him."

Sarah nodded. _'Well, if he is getting promoted then he definitely isn't sick. What else could it be?'_

"Okay," Chuck said standing, "Well, now that that's done I'm going to the bathroom and then we can move the rest of this stuff."

Sarah gave him a slight smile and rubbed his arm as he walked by her. Devon waited until Chuck closed the door and gave Sarah a knowing look, "It's not all a cover, is it?"

Sarah ignored his comment and glared at him crossing her arms once again over her chest, "Listen carefully, Devon. You're taking this surprisingly well and I hope for your sake you don't say anything to put Chuck in jeopardy."

Devon's eyes widened in shock as his jaw dropped for the second time. _'Well, that's a new side to Sarah.'_ All her protectiveness, all her secrets, all her solitude made a whole lot more sense to him now. All of Chuck's disappearing acts and suspicious behavior as of late had a reason, and a damn good one at that. He closed his mouth and nodded. "I won't. You can trust me."

"I don't trust people," she said crossly. Her body language changed as she amended her statement quietly enough for him to hear, "Except Chuck."

Devon nodded again, knowing that in some small way she was referring back to his comment about their cover. "I knew it. You _do_ have feelings for the Chuckster."

"It's complicated," she said as she sat next to Devon. She knew she slipped by telling him that. She should have left it at not trusting people. "Please don't say anything. You would be putting Ellie, Chuck, yourself . . . everyone you know and love in danger."

Just like that, her strong, confident demeanor was gone as she pleaded for his silence. "Sarah, I would never do that. Your secret is safe with me. You have my word."

Sarah looked remorsefully at him, "I wish that was enough, Devon." She walked away and gathered up the small box of weights she had. All together it weighed close to 100 pounds and she lifted it as though it was nothing.

Devon watched as she easily picked up the box and carried it to the table by the door. He watched as she doubled checked that everything was in its place. _'So Sarah is a CIA agent. That explains the Porsche, the ability to pay for this place, the dead-end job.'_ "I guess that means the Orange Orange is all for show."

"Yes."

Devon shook his head, "That must suck for you to work there."

"I can think of worse."

"Really?"

"Weinerlicious," she replied shortly as she put the top back on the box.

Devon let out a small chuckle. He wasn't sure if he should approach this topic now knowing she could probably kill him but he figured he'd try anyway. "So, as far as things with Chuck goes-"

Sarah didn't look at him as she interrupted, "Things with Chuck will only ever be the way they are. That can't be changed."

"But you want it to be different?" he asked uncertainly.

"Does it matter what I want?" She looked over to Devon and he raised his eyebrow indicating further explanation was necessary. She sighed, "I want Chuck to be safe and if keeping him at a distance from me does that then that's what I'll do. Chuck is far too valuable to me to let anything happen to him, even me."

Their conversation was cut short by Chuck coming out of the bathroom. "Alright, let's get the rest of this stuff outta here," he said standing next to the punching bag assessing the best way to take it.

Devon stood to go over by Chuck and whispered for only Sarah to hear, "We're not done yet."

"Great. Can't wait," she said sardonically to herself. They carried the rest of Sarah's belongings downstairs, packing the punching bag in Devon's jeep and the weights in Sarah's car. She closed the trunk and went over to the other car. "I'm going to do one last check."

Chuck turned his attention to her as Devon closed the back of the car. "Do you want me to go with you?"

"No, it's fine. Why don't you guys go ahead? I have some things I need to get out of the hotel safe anyway so that will take a while. I can bring us all lunch back if you'd like."

Chuck nodded, "Okay. We'll get this stuff taken care of." He leaned down and gave Sarah a peck on the cheek, causing her to smile some and reciprocate.

"See you in a little while," she said with a waive as she left.

Devon stood next to Chuck as they watched Sarah walk away. "So, she could probably kill me, huh?"

Chuck kept his gaze on Sarah as he responded, "Yeah, she could definitely kill you."

As the front door to the hotel closed they started for the car. "Do you trust her?"

"I trust her with everything. I trust Casey with most things. They put their lives on the line for me everyday. I got lucky. The Government gave me the best, which I'm grateful for."

Devon nodded, "I always thought it was weird that you were friends with a guy like John. Well, you're friends with everybody but that a guy like John would be friends with you is new."

"It's a difficult relationship to define. I'm not sure it falls under the same guidelines of friendship but he's a good guy even if he would never admit it."

**********

Sarah walked to the front desk after double checking things upstairs. She would probably check again tomorrow too just because she liked to be thorough and she had that extra day.

A woman came from the back with a smile as she addressed the guest, "Hello. How may I help you?"

"I have some belongings I need to get out of the safe."

"Yes, of course. Name please?"

"Sarah Walker."

The woman typed a few commands into the computer and pulled up the location of her guest's items. The screen showed a picture of Sarah, confirming her identity. "Just a moment please, Miss Walker." The woman was gone for about five minutes, returning with a locked briefcase in hand. She placed it on the counter and printed out a reclaim sheet from the computer. "I just need you to sign this release form and you're good to go."

Sarah quickly signed the sheet and exchanged it for the briefcase and walked out to her car. Opening the trunk, Sarah lifted a corner of the carpet revealing a combination lock. She entered the combo and placed the briefcase in the secret compartment of her trunk. With one last look at the briefcase, she shut the compartment and spun the lock.

******

Well thats all for now. let me know what you think


	11. Chapter 11

A/N: Hey everyone. Just a few things, I've been trying to make it so that a chapter is a day (I realize it didn't start out that way) but this chapter had a lot going on in it so I've decided to break it into two. The next chapter will have Sonia's party, date night and a surprise for Casey. I know I haven't brought him around in a while but it's coming.

Chapter eleven

Yesterday, Dr. Williams had explained that he wanted to start the Chemotherapy earlier than discussed in the beginning. Eve's energy levels picked up in the early evening, so last night he had started Eve on her first round of Chemo. Today she has felt much better than yesterday. She'd been sitting silently in bed all morning, thinking about Ethan's proposition. This morning when she awoke, she ran her fingers through her hair and some came out. Logically she knew the Chemo wouldn't work that fast. Hair loss generally started two to three weeks after the first treatment but that knowledge didn't stop her heart from sinking a little at the sight. So for the past hour or two, she'd been staring at the few stray strands of hair in her hand, thinking.

A knock on the door interrupted her thoughts as she looked up for the first time to see Ethan poking his head in the room, smiling. "Hey! How's my favorite patient?"

Eve tried to smile back but it was probably was closer to a grimace that came out.

Ethan's face dropped a little at the sight. "What's wrong?" he asked as he walked into the room and took a seat next to the bed.

Eve lifted her hand a little and showed Ethan its contents but said nothing. Only her eyes watered a little, reflecting her sadness at the sight. _'Wow, I'm being irrational.'_

Ethan looked confusedly downward, his eyes taking in the sight of the hair in her hand. "Oh," he said. He nodded his head and swallowed, trying to think of something, anything he could say to make it better. Even he knew that it wouldn't actually really start falling out for a few weeks but he highly doubted that would be the thing to start off with.

Luckily, Eve saved him from his plight. "You think we could take it all off?" she asked quietly, refusing to make eye contact.

Ethan reached out and rubbed her arm. "Yeah, we can do that. Erin is supposed to come have lunch with me today. I can ask her to bring her stuff and we can do it after, unless that's too soon for you. We can wait, if you want."

Eve wiped one tear away and smiled sadly as she nodded her head, "Today would be great."

"Okay," he said opening his messenger bag to pull out his phone. It looked like he had just gotten into work and hadn't even started yet before coming to visit her. He sent a text message off to his sister as he changed the subject, "So, I wasn't sure what kind of movies you'd like but I brought a couple of my favorites."

"Really?" Eve asked, her spirits brightening a little with the change of subject, "What do you got?"

Ethan let out a small laugh at her switch from moments before. He felt a strange sense of pride knowing he might have had a little something to do with it. "Let's see," he said pulling out a couple movies, "I have Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle. Odd one to like for a non-pot smoker but I find it funny. Infection. It's subtitled but still an awesome horror movie. Aliens, because in some weird, backward way the sequel was better than the original-"

"I know! Isn't it?" Eve agreed enthusiastically.

"You like Aliens?"

"I love that movie. Uncle Casey calls me Newt because he said I looked like the little girl when I was that age."

"Wow! Your cool factor just increased ten-fold."

"Awesome! Yours, too."

"Sweet," he said with a laugh.

Eve laughed a little too. Silence fell over the room as they stared at one another. She cleared her throat and turned away, looking toward the movies still in his hands. No sense in getting caught up in a moment that couldn't last. "So what else you got?"

"Oh, um, Stranger than Fiction, The Dark Knight, and Finding Nemo. Oh and, the Indian Jones collection. Just the first three because I did not like the fourth."

She nodded and smiled, "Quite the eclectic collection you have there."

He blushed a little, "What can I say? I love movies. Before I joined the Marines, I worked at a video store just so I could watch movies. I'm not so up on them now since I've been gone but Erin was sure to keep me informed for the most part."

"That was nice of her."

"Would you like to meet her? I mean, she is coming today and I know she'd like to meet you. You're probably her favorite gymnast ever."

Eve raised her brow a little in surprise. "Really?" she questioned. "I didn't realize I was so popular." She'd never much thought about fame or anything like it coming along with gymnastics. It was just something she enjoyed to do and happened to be pretty good at. When news of her cancer came out shortly after her win in 2003, the media had a bit of a field day for a while. No more than a month or so. Of course, she didn't take any offered interviews or put herself out there publicly. She had no interest in it so the interest in the situation died, too.

"Yeah. Gymnastics is pretty much the main thing my family watches during the summer Olympics. My little niece is into Gymnastics. 'An aspiring Eve Fisher,' Erin says."

Eve laughed. "How old is your niece?"

"She is gonna be nine next month."

"Really? Nine? I'd hate to see what your definition of little is," Eve teased.

Ethan smiled and teased right back, "Hey now, don't mock me. I know she isn't _that_ little but I missed most of her life so she's still little to me. Besides, she hasn't even hit double digits yet so that it still pretty young."

Eve raised her arms in surrender, "Okay, okay. I concede." Both parties remained joyful as another round of silence passed through the room. Eve broke it again before it could become awkward. "Hey, aren't you supposed to be working? I wouldn't want you to be late on account of me."

"No worries," Ethan said, "The bus schedule actually gets me here almost an hour early everyday so it's all gravy."

"It's all gravy?" Eve parroted with a confused look.

"Yeah you know? Kind of like 'its all good' but it's all gravy instead. And because gravy is _so_ good," he said, his eyes fluttering a little as he said so.

"Ah, a meat and potatoes kind of guy. Why does that not surprise me?"

"What? Do you not like meat and potatoes?"

"I used to. It's been quite a while since I've had any."

"Well, we can't have that. Tell you what, when you get better, I'll take you to the steakhouse of your choice to commensurate the occasion."

"Oh, that would be so awesome." Eve sighed and rested her head against the bed, "Ethan Gallagher, you have yourself a deal."

"Excellent, Evelyn Fisher. I look forward to it."

There was a short knock as the door to the room opened causing its occupants to look at the new comer. Ethan stood quickly, ready to defend if the situation called for it. The door revealed Eve's grandmother, Diane, so he allowed himself to relax. He smiled at Eve's grandmother, "Good morning, Mrs. Diane."

"Good morning, Ethan," she said letting the door fall shut behind her, "I trust you've been taking good care of my granddaughter."

"Grams," Eve said shaking her head, "Relax, dude."

"Dude? One week in California and you're already using their slang. Tsk tsk," Diane shook her head, joking, "I'm surprised at you."

"Sorry, General," Eve smiled and shrugged one shoulder as if she didn't care. Of course she was only joking. It was fun to get people that don't normally joke around to joke around.

Ethan immediately went to attention at hearing the word General. He had his suspicions that Diane was military, he just didn't realize she would be so high up in the ranks.

Diane smiled. She had done her own checking on him and was quite impressed by his service. His actions at times of heightened stress proved he was quite apt in his duties during the war. From what she could tell, he was a good and honorable man. And he made her granddaughter feel better. "Oh, come now, Ethan. There is no need to be official now."

He looked down sheepishly, "Sorry, Ma'am. Force of habit."

"That's quite alright. However, when in times of an official capacity, you are expected to behave as one would in those circumstances."

"Yes, Ma'am," he said as he leaned over to pick up his bag from the chair. "Well, I best be leaving. I need to start my shift soon. See you later, Eve, General." He nodded to both as he left the room.

"I like that boy," she said as the door closed behind him. Diane turned her attention to Eve, "So, how are you feeling Eve dear?"

"Pretty good thanks. Not as tired as yesterday so good."

"That's good," Diane said as she took the seat Ethan had vacated.

Eve sat silently for a moment before saying in a monotone voice, "I've decided to shave off my hair."

"Really? Why?"

Eve shook her head a little, "I don't want to watch it fall out knowing there is nothing I can do about it. Ethan suggested it. His sister is going to do it later today."

Diane nodded, "Okay."

"Hey Grams?"

"Yes?"

"Do you know anywhere nearby that can fix an iPod? Mine isn't working."

Diane smiled a little. The way Eve had started made her think it was going to be something more serious. "I'm sure I can think of some where. I'll take it to where Dr. Bartowski's brother works."

"Thanks," Eve said. "Where are Mom and Uncle Casey?"

"They should be arriving shortly."

As if reading their minds, a knock came from the door. "Hi," the visitor said.

It wasn't who Eve expected it to be. "Grace?" she asked. "Hi, what are you doing here?"

Grace smiled. Eve looked a bit worse than when she saw her last, more tired. Grace held up a brown paper sack, "Well, your mom and John thought you were getting sick of the hospital food and they asked me if I could bring you some tea and soup so here I am. But I brought a different soup this time. "

Eve let out a happy and dramatic sigh, "Oh, you are my hero. Grams, you gotta try this stuff. It's so good."

Grace walked into the room a bit hesitantly. After all, she'd only met Eve the one time and hasn't met the older woman in the room, who is apparently the grandma. She place the thermos filled with tea next to the paper bag on the table. Turning her attention to the unknown lady, Grace stuck out her hand and introduced herself, "Hi, I'm Grace Baxter."

"Diane Beckman," she said grasping the younger woman's hand with her own.

"Nice to meet you."

"Likewise."

Eve poured some of the tea into the thermos lid and stuck out her arm as far as she could to give the drink to her grandmother, "Here, Grams. Give this a try."

"Alright," Diane said as she took the drink from Eve and brought it to her lips. She allowed the liquid to stay in her mouth for a while so she could give it a good taste before she nodded and swallowed, "Mmm, that's really good. What kind of tea is it?"

"It's my own version of Peppermint Tea. Peppermint is the main component but I add different herbs and spices to it. It's fun to change it up sometimes. The mint really helps to settle the stomach."

"Oh, yes that's right. I'd heard that once before." Diane looked as if she was trying to remember when she'd heard it but then her face relaxed, "Oh, well. I don't remember. Is that what you went to school for?"

"Kind of," Grace said tilting her head slightly to the side. "I did take a few classes but there were . . . extenuating circumstances that made it so that I wasn't able to complete the necessary schooling. My grandmother preferred alternative forms of health care so she was really knowledgeable with herbs and things. She taught me everything I know. I have my own herb garden just outside the city in the community garden where I grow my own."

Diane nodded, "Ah, so you use only freshly harvested herbs."

"Yes, exactly. Manufactured just doesn't compare to fresh."

"Very true, very true," Diane said. "So how do you fit into this group?"

Grace let out a sigh, "Um, well, I work at a diner and John is kind of a regular there. We were acquainted through that. I'm usually his waitress."

"I see. And what is the nature of your relationship?"

"Nothing really. If anything I guess I'd say acquaintances bordering on friendship given more time. I mean, he helped me out a few weeks ago when I received news about the condition of my grandmother but that was really the only time we'd actually ever spoken outside of what it was he wanted to eat. He's not much of a talker."

Diane hummed in contemplation. "No, that he is not." There was a double meaning to her statement. If you knew about the times he'd been captured and tortured, John Casey was definitely one of the guys it took longer to break. So far he'd never broken but that didn't mean that with the right amount of time, he wouldn't. Besides, normally they used beating but he knew how to take a hit like no one else and had a high threshold to pain.

"From what I can tell, he's a really good guy."

Eve smiled, "The best."

"Well," Diane said moving to stand, "I guess I'll be leaving to get that iPod of yours fixed. Would you mind staying, Grace?

"I guess I can for a little while, if you'd like, Eve. I don't want to impose."

"Oh, that's fine with me. No imposition at all. I'd just be watching a movie anyway if you didn't stay and Uncle Casey says I do too much of that already." Eve reached over to the beside table and grabbed a deck of cards, "How 'bout a card game?"

"Why not?"

Diane left with Eve's iPod in hand while Eve and Grace hashed out which game it was they would play.

*********

Sarah walked over to the Buy More to see what kind of side dish Chuck wanted to bring for Sonia's party. She was getting off work earlier than him so she could pick it up at the Large Mart before they left for the zoo. But she also just wanted to see him. They could pick up something on they way but this gives her an excuse to see him sooner. Normally the Buy More was fairly slow on Friday mornings so he could spare a few minutes to talk to her.

It seemed the world had other ideas in mind. Chuck was currently on the phone with a customer while another two stood in front of him. Off to the left, she could see an angry looking Isabel muttering something about Morgan and dragging a semi oblivious Sonia behind her. Seeing that her primary reason for being there was occupied, Sarah stopped Isabel on her way out, "Hey, Isabel. Is everything alright?"

Isabel turned quickly at hearing her name almost causing Sonia to fall down, "Oh, Sarah. Hi." She took a breath to calm herself. Satisfied she wouldn't direct any undue anger towards Chuck's girlfriend she gave Sarah a small smile, "Everything is fine. Morgan was just supposed to watch Sonia while I went to set up the picnic area at the zoo and he's nowhere to be found. I just didn't want to get distracted by a three year old running around. Well, I guess she's four tomorrow but that's not really the point."

Sarah smiled back a little, "I can take her."

"Really?" she asked shocked, "You'd do that for me?"

Sarah shrugged, "Sure. It's only a couple of hours. Besides, I really like Sonia." She ruffled the little girl's hair a bit causing Sonia to smile and giggle.

"Oh, Sarah, thank you. A thousand times, thank you," Isabel said handing her a bag with Sonia's things. "We should probably switch her car seat to your car too."

"Of course," Sarah said taking Sonia's hand and walking out of the store. She followed a significantly more relaxed Isabel to her car and took the car seat from her. Isabel kissed Sonia on the cheek and said thank you again to Sarah before getting in and leaving. As Isabel drove off Sarah realized she had absolutely no idea how to put one of these properly into a car and should have asked Isabel to do it before she left. _'Oh great. Maybe Chuck will know.'_ She sighed. There wasn't anything she could do about that now. "Okay, how about some frozen yogurt?"

"Yeah!" Sonia exclaimed excitedly.

Sarah laughed at the child in endearment. It'd been so long since she'd been around a child, she'd forgotten how fun they could be. Sonia started skipping off towards the Orange Orange holding Sarah's hand, this time being the dragger instead of the dragee.

"Skip! Skip!" she demanded playfully.

"Alright," Sarah said with a chuckle and began to skip awkwardly along the three year old carrying a car seat in the other hand. Once inside she sat Sonia on the counter. "Okay, pick a flavor," she said while placing the car seat down next to the wall.

Sonia looked at all the different options. She could read some words but some of the letter combinaations were too long for her to make out so she decided to choose by color. She poked at the glass with her left hand, "The pink and orange one."

"You got it," Sarah said grabbing a cup and scooping some in. Sonia jumped down from the counter. "Careful," Sarah said as Sonia did so. Sonia went over to a table and hoisted herself into the chair. Sarah followed behind carrying the cup of yogurt, admiring the child's independence. "Here you go," she said as she put the cup in front of her. "I'm going to grab some markers and paper so you can color when you're finished."

"Okay. Mommy put crayons in my backpack too," Sonia said, swinging her legs underneath the chair as she spooned the frozen treat into her mouth.

Sarah got the necessary items and grabbed herself a cup of mango yogurt as well. She carried all of them to the small table and sat down next to Sonia.

***********

Diane took a taxi to the Buy More Plaza. If memory serves, Mr. Bartowski should still be working for another hour before leaving to the birthday party. She stepped out of the taxi, glancing over to the Orange Orange. She could see Agent Walker sitting next to a child who was kneeling on a chair and holding a picture out to her. Agent Walker's eyes lit up as if it was the best thing she'd seen all day and offered words of praise that Diane couldn't hear but caused the small child to blush and smile.

She turned back to the cab and paid the driver, cataloging her observations for later. She went into the Buy More and anonymously looked around the store. She could see a disturbingly hung over man talking to a customer, his ratty hair going in all different directions and his eye's were red rimmed and bloodshot. Along the wall of TV's was a group of employees rapidly flashing through different TV shows and commercials shouting out what they were while customers walked dumbfounded around the store. The store manager was sitting in his office stuffing his face with donuts. _'This is where they work?'_ she thought appalled at the display of work ethic shown.

In the middle hung a canopy that read NerdHerd and the lone person behind the desk, '_And working,'_ was none other than the asset himself. He was juggling three different customers while answering phone calls and messing with paperwork around the desk. Diane was surprised at the amount of work he handled all by himself and that he was seemingly unstressed. She knew he worked, of course, but not that he basically ran the store. _'Maybe I should find him a different cover job. It's no wonder Eleanor wants him out of here. This place is an absolute mess.'_

The hung over man caught his attention and he politely excused himself from the customers at the counter after hanging up the phone. "Jeff!" he called out, jogging over to where the man was. On his way he grabbed another employee with a frizzy afro by the arm and took him with him to this Jeff character. Just before he got there, the woman customer slapped the hung over man across the face. Diane didn't hear what he'd said but the asset immediately defused the situation as he pushed Jeff out of the way, "Ma'am, I apologize for Jeff. I'm going to have a talk with him. This is Skip. He can assist you with any further questions you may have regarding our products."

The lady muttered something about the drunkard needing to be fired or filing charges against him. The asset apologized once again and asked her not to do that and that he will take care of everything. He dragged the drunkard behind him to the counter and plopped him unceremoniously on the chair, "Sit! Stay! And don't say anything!"

"Ruff, ruff," Jeff said with a wink.

The asset grimaced and turned back towards the customers. "I'm very sorry for leaving like that." He went off into his technical speak, informing all three customers at the same time when they can expect their machines to be fixed and a set up time to pick up the items with a promise to call if anything changes. As the three customers left, he turned his attention back to Jeff. "What are you thinking, Jeff? Do you want to get fired for sexual harassment? One more bad mark, Jeff, and I'm not going to be able to keep you here. Corporate is already looking for reasons to fire people because of setbacks. I've done my best to keep them off of everyone here but if you do things like that I can't save you. Do you understand?"

"Yes."

"Good. Now take these machines back to the cage and get to work." He gathered all the paperwork and stacked the laptops on top of each other with the correct paperwork. He handed all the items to Jeff and plopped into the chair Jeff had vacated while Jeff scurried away. Chuck shuffled through his own paperwork letting out a sigh at the stack.

Diane approached the desk and rang the bell.

"Welcome to the Buy More," he said dropping the paper he just picked up and looked over to the counter, "How can I- General. Hi. How's it going?" He stood quickly and started fussing nervously with his tie.

General Beckman pulled out the broken iPod and laid it on the counter. "Can you fix this?"

Chuck grabbed the item from the counter and started pressing the buttons. "Well, normally you have to go to an Apple store but yeah, I can fix it. Just don't alert the authorities," he joked. At the General's unamused look, Chuck cleared his throat, "Ahem, yes I can fix it." He pulled out a small tool kit and popped off the casing. He tinkered with some of the wiring and put the casing back on. Flipping it over in his hands, he turned it on. White Snake's song Here I Go Again was paused on the screen. "Wow, General. I wouldn't have pegged you for an 80's rock fan."

"Excuse me?"

"White Snake," he said showing her the screen.

The General rolled her eyes, "This isn't my iPod. It's my granddaughters."

"Oh, sorry," Chuck said blushing sheepishly. He handed the iPod back to her, "Anyway, good as new." As she was stuffing it back into her purse, Chuck would curse his own inability to remain unflustered by her presence. He would never know what possessed him to ask her such a blatantly obvious question, "So you have a granddaughter?"

"I believe I just said that, Mr. Bartowski," she answered irritated. She'd been impressed by how quickly he figured out what the problem was yet she couldn't bring herself to praise him, instead, choosing to keep an air of superiority.

"Right, right," he shifted uncomfortably back and forth on his feet. The General finished organizing everything in her purse and looked at the asset. Chuck swallowed, "Um, did you need anything else?"

The General raised her brow, "To pay."

"Oh," Chuck smiled unsurely, "Don't worry about it. On the house as they say."

The General just huffed and walked towards the exit. He watched her walk across the parking lot to a coffee shop. Chuck let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. _'So she has a granddaughter? I wonder where she is if Beckman is bringing in her iPod to be fixed.'_

Chuck turned his attention back to the paper work and sighed.

*********

Sarah and Sonia made their way to her Porsche to put the car seat in. She opened the door and allowed Sonia to sit in the front seat. "Alright Sonia, I need to figure out how to put this in the car. Will you be patient and sit here until I'm done?"

Sonia nodded her head, "Can I have my dollie to play with?"

"Sure," Sarah said handing over the bag of her belongings. "Don't touch anything, okay?"

"Okay."

Sarah threaded the seat belt through the hole in the back of the car seat. Sliding the clip into place she tugged tightly on the strap. She stuck her knee in the seat and leaned some weight in it. She wiggled the seat and it fell to the inside of the car. _'Hmm . . .'_ Sarah stepped back to look at the child's seat, deciding what to do to fix it. She tried looking through the slot to see if there was some way that she was supposed to lock the seat belt but she couldn't find anything. She let out a frustrated sigh and released the seat to try again.

**********

General Beckman was lost in thought as she came out of the store. She was now positive it had been a mistake to stay so close to Bartowski and Walker. It wasn't her job to see them as real people. She was supposed to remain distant so she couldn't be disillusioned by emotions. With Casey, it was different. She practically raised that boy. Whenever his parents fought or went on a drinking binge, her house is where he would seek refuge from the yelling and smashing of dishes and just all out hurricane of events. He used to cry but his father would hit him if he did. And each time it happened, she saw him become just a little colder, a little harder, and worst of all, a little crueler. It saddened her to think what he might have become had she and David not been around.

But as for the other two, she wasn't supposed to know that Chuck Bartowski had a fantastic family and that he was a complete gentleman. That he would go out of his way to help others. That he was polite even to those who didn't deserve it. Some of the customers he dealt with day in and day out were downright rude. Diane had even overheard the story floating around the hospital about Chuck walking old ladies across the parking lot and that he used to volunteer to read to the children in the burn unit at the hospital every so often. Apparently, it'd been a while since he'd done it and they were wondering why. Diane knew it was because he'd been busy trying to have a normal life amid the chaos his had become.

She wasn't supposed to know that Sarah Walker liked children and seemed to be good with them, which is ironic really. Sarah Walker probably shouldn't like children because of how she grew up and yet, there she was, taking care of one. Maybe that was why she liked children, because she wanted them to have better than what she got. In any case, Diane shouldn't actually feel the need to ask her about it and yet she wanted to.

Watching Walker with that child, who ever she was, made her heart ache for all those times she let those moments pass with David. All things considered, they had a pretty close bond for a mother and son. Better than most, but she had still been so focused on making it to the top while he was growing up. Being a mother was not going to stop her from being successful. It wouldn't have been so hard to decide to be successful in a different manner. She thought, for all intents and purposes, she had been a good mother and David always told her she was the best but she couldn't help but feel like she missed out on so much with him. When she first found out she was pregnant, she'd been so angry. It wasn't enough that her husband of two months was sent off to war and met 'the nurse of his dreams', leaving her alone to raise a child she wasn't even sure she wanted. Sometimes it caused undue resentment to be pushed on David in the beginning. It hadn't been his fault she was young and stupid. He was only a baby. She wouldn't be able to tell anyone the exact moment her feelings changed but one day it all just seemed to be different. Something changed. Either she didn't yell as much or he must have stopped doing things that made her yell, but it all turned around at some point. She loved having him around her. He became the light of her life.

Diane made her way distractedly across the parking lot to a coffee shop on the corner. She ordered herself a drink and sat outside enjoying the sunshine while she thought. A little girl running out of a car caught her attention and Diane realized it was the child that Agent Walker was tending. She was running with outstretched arms towards the lanky form of the asset. Diane could see the smile on his face as he crouched down to pick her up. He settled her on his hip as he crossed the last few steps to Walker's Porsche.

Walker looked frustrated and gestured to the car at what Diane assumed was a child's safety seat. They exchanged a few words and the asset passed off the child to the agent who smiled at the child. They moved to the side as the asset bent to look into the car. A few moments later he poked his head back and asked a question. Walker nodded as she put the child down in the front seat and went to the trunk. She pulled out a blanket and handed it off to the asset. He checked the car seat and moved out of the way for Walker to do the same. He picked up the little girl and playfully tossed her into the air, her giggle barely making its way across the parking lot to Diane's ear. Walker, satisfied the car seat was put in safely, watched the asset and the child with a softness Diane had never witnessed before with the agent.

As Diane watched the events unfold, she was surprised at how much it affected her. She could picture years flashing of the life they could share and the family they could have. Their connection with each other was so palpable. What surprised Diane even more was how much she actually desired for these two to have a chance at that future. She stuffed those thoughts down deep quickly. It was unfeasible to have any of those thoughts at this time. It just couldn't happen. Not now.

As the taxi cab pulled up to the coffee shop, she spared one last glance at the couple. The asset leaned down and whispered something in her ear and gave the agent a kiss on the cheek before he walked back to the Buy More. The agent brought a hand to caress her cheek where his lips had lain just moments before as she watched him jog across the parking lot. Diane got into the cab and told the driver where to go, with her last thought being, _'Oh boy.'_

********

Chuck worked on the pile of paper work diligently for about ten minutes before getting up and walking to look out the front door. He stood with his arms folded across his chest as he gazed at the Orange Orange. He hadn't had his break from work yet because they'd been so busy today so he hadn't seen Sarah since she dropped him off in the morning. It was starting to get to him too. Across the parking lot, the doors to the Orange Orange opened and Sarah emerged in all her stunning beauty holding the hand of Sonia and carrying a car seat. Both where smiling in the sunshine as they walked to Sarah's Porsche. _'Wait, why does Sarah have Sonia?'_

Emmett sidled up next to Chuck and mimicked his stance. Seeing what held Chuck's attention, he said, "Well, well, well. Look at that. If it isn't your blond bimbo with a tiny little miscreant in tow." Chuck cast a dirty glower at Emmett as he continued, "We pay you to work, not stare. I suggest you keep that in mind if you want to keep working."

"Well, then I'm going on break," he said unfolding his arms and walking out the door. Emmett started to mutter something but Chuck ignored him and continued on his way to Sarah.

Sonia was sitting in the front seat playing with her Barbie doll, flying her around in the air. At a particular high moment, Chuck had caught her attention. "Chuckie!" she exclaimed, rushing from the car and dropping the doll to the asphalt in the process.

Chuck bent down with a smile as she ran into his arms. He picked her up and carried her the last few steps towards Sarah. "Hey, what's going on?"

Sarah sighed and pointed to the car, "Well, I was going to take Sonia with me to the store to get our side dish for the party but I can't figure out how to get the da- stupid car seat. Honestly, I can disarm men three times my size but a freakin' car seat is too much apparently." Chuck grinned at Sarah as she berated herself. "What?" she asked annoyed.

"Nothing," Chuck said with a small shake of his head, "You're just cute when you're mad."

Sonia looked between the two adults, confused. "Sarah mad?"

Sarah softened at the adorable child, "I'm not mad, Sweetie. I'm just . . ." she tried to think of a different word but only came up with, "upset."

Chuck laughed, "Which is synonymous to mad." Sarah glared unamused at Chuck and his cheeks reddened. He held out Sonia to Sarah as he said, "Here. Let me try."

Sarah happily took the child off his hands while he dealt with the car seat. They moved out of the way but Sarah kept trying to look through Chuck to see what he was doing. He made a better door than a window.

Sonia's comment pulled her attention away, "Oh no! My dollie," she said pointing to the ground where her doll laid unnoticed until now.

Sarah knelt down and grabbed the doll, still holding Sonia. She rubbed the plastic toy against her arm to clean off any dirt that was there. She held the doll out to inspect it. Satisfied it was clean, she wobbled it back and forth in front of Sonia. "Here you go," she said. As Sonia reached out to take the doll, Sarah pulled it back, teasing her. "Ha, ha, gotcha!"

"Hey," Sonia said, "That's mine." She folded her arms and pouted.

"Oh, fine," Sarah said handing her the doll. "Here you go." Sonia perked up as the doll was passed into her hands. Now that Sarah had a free hand, she wiggled her fingers at Sonia. "I'm gonna get you," she said and then like lightening her hand struck out, attacking Sonia's side as she tried to cower deeper into Sarah's shoulder and away from Sarah's fingers, laughing all the while.

The sound of Sonia's giggles distracted Chuck from trying to accomplish his goal. He looked over his shoulder and smiled at the sight of Sarah playing with Sonia. Both of them had a permanent smile across their face and Chuck couldn't think of a time when he thought she'd had more fun. He really hated to ruin their moment but he had to get back to work if he planned on keeping his job for the foreseeable future. "Hey, Sarah? Do you have a blanket or something we can put on the seat to level it off?"

Sarah stopped her attack on Sonia and turned to Chuck. "Yeah. It's in the trunk," she said, sitting Sonia down in the front seat once again. She popped the trunk and grabbed the blanket. She reached inside the car to give it to Chuck, "Here you go."

"Thanks," Chuck said as he took it from her. Sarah watched him fold and roll it. He laid it out on the seat and put the car seat over top then slid the seat belt through and pulled it tightly. He wiggled it around to see if it would fall and when it didn't, he said, "Okay, I think that did it. Why don't you give it a try?"

He moved out of the way for Sarah to test it. "Okay," she said, "I think you fixed it."

"Alright Miss Sonia," Chuck said reaching into the car and picking up Sonia, tossing her into the air, "Time to get you in your car seat."

Sonia giggled, "Again! Again!"

"Oh, you liked that, huh?" He tossed her again. As he caught her this time, he twirled around and made airplane sounds as he put her down in the back seat. "Bwoop!" he said, poking her in the stomach, making her laugh more. He strapped her in securely and stood back. "See you in a little while."

Sarah watched in adoration as Chuck play with Sonia. Never before had she ever felt such a strong desire to have a family. She never really had one but now she wanted to make one. Everyday that passed, it seemed to become more and more of a reality than just a fantasy. Chuck's radiant smile brought her out of her reverie. She matched his smile as they continued to stare quietly at one another.

Chuck took a couple small steps up to Sarah and leaned down. His breath tickled her ear as he spoke, "You know, one day, Sarah, you are going to make a great mother and I hope I get to see it." He dropped a bit more to barely brush his lips tenderly against her cheek. He started to walk away without waiting for her response. He really didn't think he wanted to listen to another lecture about how it wouldn't ever happen. He turned around and walked a few paces backwards, shocked to find that she didn't even look prepared in the least to protest. His smile grew as he said, "See you in a little while."

Sarah watched Chuck turn around and jog the rest of the way into the store. She brought her fingertips to the side of her face where her cheek still tingled from where his lips had been moments before. It felt like a kiss of promise. His whispered compliment and subsequent desire had been burned into her brain causing her thoughts to veer from what she always thought would be her future- forever spying- to what she now wanted her future to be- forever normal with Chuck.

********

So that's all for now. Let me know what you all think =)


	12. Chapter 12

A/N: Hey all! So, so sorry to Zyfr for not doing a shout out _two_ chapters ago for being the 94th reviewer {47X2 in case you're wondering . . . yes we have gone over how dorky that is =)} I can't believe I forgot to post it again last chapter. I am such a blond sometimes.

Chapter Twelve

Trisha, Eve, Casey, and Grace sat around the bed playing the card game kent. In this game you sit across from your partner. Each person is dealt four cards and the goal is to get all four aces or all four twos and so on. There is a person called the sweeper who lays out four cards on the table and everyone has to rapidly switch the cards in their hand with the cards on the table in an attempt to get all four cards of the same number in their hand and to throw off the other team. If no one is switching cards out anymore, the players call 'sweep' and a new set of four cards is laid out while the old set is pushed off to the side. Once a player has all four of the same card, they then have to signal to their partner that they have the required cards and their partner has to call out 'kent' in order to win a round. If a member of another team figures out what your signal is or thinks you don't actually have the required cards, they call 'bluff' to stop play. It can get kind of complicated when you have to keep track of what other players are grabbing and what you need to get. The game is fast, loud, and all out fun to play, especially with large groups of people and multiple decks of cards.

The teams had been divided so that Trisha and Eve were one team and Casey and Grace were the other. So far, Casey and Grace had been unbeatable. They'd even figured out how to signal to the other person what card they are looking for so they'd been helping each other out. Grace had been holding three kings for the past three times that the cards have been laid out and her frustration had escalated each time a sweep had passed without a king to be shown. Finally a king was put down, but Casey picked it up to throw the other two off that it was what Grace was looking for.

Realizing his strategy, Grace switched out the five in her hand for a jack on the table. Face card to face card switches are a little easier to conceal. What they hadn't been expecting was for Trisha to take the five, allowing Eve to excitedly shout, "Kent!" She threw her cards to the table and rested back against the bed, "Sheesh! I can't believe we finally won a round, Mom. You guys are crazy fast."

Casey grunted and Grace blushed a little as she replied, "Well, it's been fun, that's for sure. Thanks for teaching me a new game."

Eve smiled, "Of course. Mom and I found a book of card games so we know tons. It helps pass the time. Do you want to come back tomorrow to learn another?"

"Oh, um. I don't think I can," Grace said, "My cousin is getting married tomorrow so that's what I get to do." Her eyes rolled a little as she thought about what the day had in store.

Her tone sounded less than enthusiastic causing Eve to question, "Are you not excited for that?"

"Oh, its not that I'm not excited. I am. It's just that she is a bit of a bridezilla- excuse me, perfectionist and that I'll be the only woman left in my family that is single. They like to pick on you if you're single. I'm the old maid at these things. I'm not looking forward to the reception at all."

Trisha perked up a little, seeing this as a perfect opportunity to set John up on a date. It has to have been at least two years since his last one. "Well, why don't you take John? We'd all just be hanging out here anyway and then it gives you an excuse to leave."

Casey and Grace gave Trisha a look. John's was more of an angry look and Grace's was more of a shocked one. "Ah, I- oo- um," she looked over at John and saw that he didn't look all to pleased with the idea. "You know, I think I'm okay." She was looking at John out of the corner of her eye but directing her comment to Trisha.

John turned his attention to Grace. It's not that he wouldn't want to take her. To be honest, under different circumstances he could really see himself liking a girl like Grace. She was beautiful, sweet and considerate but most importantly independent. She didn't need anyone to coddle her. She certainly didn't deserve anyone harping on her for life choices. That thought brought out the natural protector in him, making up his mind to take her. "No. I'll take you."

"That's okay. You don't have to," she protested. It seemed clear to her that he wasn't interested and she didn't want to make him do anything he didn't want to. Besides, they really didn't even know each other all that well. It could be awkward. "It's fine really."

"No, I insist," he said, the corner of his mouth lifting slightly, trying to show his sincerity. "I would have asked myself, but," He looked over at Trisha as he continued, "some people should learn to wait and be patient."

Trisha didn't comment, only ducking her head with an impish smile and a look that said some people need an extra push.

"Only if you're sure," Grace said uncertainly, looking between Trisha and John.

"I'm sure." He stood up from his seat and stretched his back. "Would you like to get a drink with me and we can hash out the details on the way?"

"Ah, sure," she said as she looked down at her watch, "I have to go to work, though. But you could walk me out?" Her tone rose at the end in a sort of hopeful fashion. His only response was a grunt in what she assumed was acquiescence since he moved to pick up her jacket and purse by the door. She directed her attention to Eve and Trisha to say her goodbyes to the other women in the room. "Well, it's been a lovely afternoon. Tell Diane I said bye and it was nice to meet her. I guess I'll see you guys later."

"Bye, Grace. It's been tons of fun," Eve said with a waive.

John helped Grace with her jacket. He was still a gentleman, after all. He handed her her purse and held open the door. As Grace and Casey were walking out the door, Ethan was making his way into the room. "Oh, sorry," he said dodging the exiting couple. "Have a nice day." He turned his attention to the occupants of the room, "Hi, Mrs. Fisher." He grabbed Eve's chart and quickly started with the updates as he continued, "So, um, Erin actually can't make it today, Eve. Something came up with my niece that we need to take care of."

"Oh, okay," Eve said, noticing his hurry. "Is everything alright?"

"Uh, more or less, yeah. It's just . . . the situation with her father is a little complicated so another nurse offered to keep an eye on my patients until I get back so I can help Erin."

"Cool. I hope everything works out for you," Eve said supportively.

Ethan smiled as he finished up with her chart, "Thanks. I'll see you later tonight, I guess. Goodbye, Mrs. Fisher."

As the door closed, Trisha turned to Eve, "What was that about?"

Eve sighed, "We were going to shave off our hair today, but I guess we have to wait."

"Oh," Trisha said then pausing in contemplation. After realizing Eve said 'we', she asked, "Both of you?"

"Yeah," Eve said looking down to her hands. "I told him he didn't have to do it but . . . yeah." It meant a great deal to her that he would be willing to help her. Part of her wondered if it was just pity, but the majority of her truly believed he was genuine in his offer of friendship.

Trisha looked lovingly at her daughter. "You really like this boy, don't you?"

"No," Eve shifted uncomfortably under her mother's knowing gaze. "I don't know. I mean, what's the use? Even if I do get better, it won't change anything. We live in Seattle. It just- it couldn't work."

Trisha's heart dropped after Eve said 'if'. It had always been 'when' except, it seemed when it came to certain subjects, it became 'if' instead. She sighed sadly, "You know, Eve, as long as you believe in something, and know it in your heart, anything is possible."

Eve caught on to the double meaning behind her mother's statement. She had been surprised she said 'if' as well, but the thought of 'if' had probably always been there subconsciously, "I know you wanna believe that, Mom, I do too. But some things are impossible."

Trisha reached out and put her hand over Eve's, "But I do believe it. After everything, how could I not?"

Eve looked her mother directly in the eye as she responded, "That statement works both ways." She turned away from her mother so she didn't have to see the wounded look she most likely had and so she could explain, "I mean I always pictured myself competing at the Olympics. I could see it, taste it, feel it. But Dad was always there too. Regardless of if I won anything or not _both_ of you were there- both of you. Obviously I was wrong, though. Dad's gone and I've been sick." Once she had started, it seemed she couldn't stop. All those thoughts and dreams she had kept in were just desperate to get out and be voiced, "I have these images in my head of things that I've wanted to do and things I've wanted to see, places I've wanted to go, but now, every moment I'm here, they get further and further away. And I can try to believe that it's all going to work out because, for me, that's easier than wondering what happens after it doesn't. What happens if it doesn't, Mom? What do we do then?"

Trisha's eyes glistened with unshed tears as she listened to the concerns of her only child. The memory of a similar conversation with John merely a week ago sprang to mind where she shared similar doubts. Only at that time, her mind was filled with selfish thoughts where as now, all she wanted to do was assuage the fears Eve had residing within her. But she simply didn't have a reasonable answer for her. She went for truth as she replied, "I don't know. It doesn't seem fair, does it? I mean, here you are, dealing with cancer- twice over- with more strength than I've ever had in my entire life. You've gone through more things than most people could ever imagine and yet you have this undying passion for goodness and life. I have to believe that there is a reason for this beyond what we know because anything else is just too terrible to think about. I don't know how I know this, but I know you are meant for great things and to live longer than this. There is no other option. Karma would be a real dip shit if you weren't allowed to live."

The last comment caused Eve to let out a small laugh. It wasn't much but Trisha felt it meant they were on their way back to confidence rather than doubt. Eve wiped a few of the tears rolling down her face. She had to admit, she felt a bit better knowing that her mom would always stand by her no matter what the circumstances. It had taken her a long, long time to accept the idea that unconditional love existed since all her early relations had precarious balance- one in which you could only be kept around as long as you proved to be useful. Sometimes she had her doubts but each time her mom, or dad, or Uncle Casey, or Grams would be there to reassure her. Eve looked up at her mom with watery eyes but no more tears and asked, "Will you hug me?"

Trisha's hands twitched with want and her expression shared the same sentiment, but her words were ones of concern, "But your blisters . . ."

"Please?" she choked out. "I can take it. It's been so long . . ."

Trisha immediately reached out and wrapped Eve in her arms. Gently, of course, but it sure felt good to be able to do it. She whispered into Eve's ear, "I love you, Evelyn Jane Fisher. I am so grateful everyday that you chose me to be your mother."

Eve let out a small hiss of pain at the initial contact but she was so happy to finally feel someone else's embrace rather than her own dismal attempt at comfort. She tightened her arms a little at Trisha's admission and whispered back, "I'm so grateful you let me chose you. I love you, too, Mom."

*********

John and Grace walked in comfortable silence down the hallway to the front entrance. He took in the movement of every individual they passed and counted the doors, cataloging them into different levels of threat. None of them were at a very high level of course but such was his habit, especially when other people were around him that provided an unknown. He spared a glance to his companion out of the corner of his eye. He could see she was processing. What, he wasn't sure but clearly she was in thought about something. He stroke up conversation quietly so he didn't startle her, "So, what time is this shindig happening?"

Grace had been deciding how to start a conversation as she subconsciously gazed down the hallway, also counting doors and people. Her obsessive compulsion was a bit worse than John's as she was also counting her steps and mathematically calculating how many ceiling tiles there were. She was drawn from her thoughts at his comment. "Oh, um, the wedding is at two and the reception is six. It's at the community garden, which is perfect because I should really check on some of my herbs and flowers."

Casey was curious what she'd been thinking about. It's like the conversation provided her with a distraction to something. He hummed and nodded his head. "You like gardening then?"

"Yeah," she said with a wistful smile. "It's the most calming thing I've ever experienced in my life."

It seemed there was a deeper meaning behind her statement but she wasn't offering to reveal any more information. He didn't know what to say so he gave a slight smile back and a grunt but kept quiet.

They reached the doors and pushed out into the sunlight. Grace always felt better outside, like she was less plagued with counting. She sighed as she basked in the aroma of the outdoors. "Would you like lunch before the wedding? It's the least I can do since your going with me on such short notice."

Casey noticed her change and mentally stored it for later. "Lunch would be nice." Since she obviously enjoyed being outside and had things to do at the garden before the ceremony, Casey, being the practical guy he is, suggested, "We could have a picnic at the garden before, if you'd like."

Grace smiled at his thoughtfulness, "That's a great idea." As they were approaching her car, Grace clicked the button on her car keys to unlock the door of her car.

"How does eleven thirty sound? Will that give you enough time for everything?" Casey asked, taking note of the car that unlocked. He pulled open the driver door for her so she could get in.

With the door between them, Grace looked into his eyes, "Yes, that'll give me plenty of time."

"Okay."

They lingered there for a moment, staring at each other. Grace blushed a little under his gaze. She smiled awkwardly and let out a breath, breaking the moment, "Well, I'll see you tomorrow." Deciding he wasn't a hugger or anything to that effect, she started to get into her car.

He pushed the door closed once she was fully inside the car. "Tomorrow."

"You still remember where I live right?" Grace asked as he turned to walk away.

Her window had been rolled down and Casey hunched his tall frame to the balls of his feet so he could look at her as he replied, "Yes."

"Right," Grace smiled and shrugged a shoulder, "Of course you would."

Casey laughed and used the door to help push himself up, his knees cracking at the effort, "I'll see you later."

Grace gave him a small waive which he reciprocated with a slight nod as he turned to leave and she watched him walk away. Her head tilted to the side in thought, _'What a nice ass.'_

***********

Sarah purchased a medium sized bucket of some kind of macaroni salad from the Large Mart across the parking lot. Normally, and originally, she would have walked but Chuck had already put Sonia in the car seat so she just drove over. Since she had extra time, she took Sonia back to their apartment so Sarah could change out of her work clothes and get Chuck a change as well. She pushed open the door to their apartment and allowed Sonia to bound in in front of her. Sarah smiled at the child's antics. She wished she could see the world from the eyes of a child. Her childhood forced her to grow up quickly so she never got to see things quite like Sonia got too. "Alright, Missy, I'm going to go change. Will you wait out here for me?"

Sonia nodded exaggeratedly. She hopped up onto the couch and hammered her legs on the couch and sat on her hands.

"Okay," Sarah chuckled. The one box of paintings from storage that hadn't been put away rested on the coffee table in the living room. Sarah could see Sonia trying to peek into the box and around all the frames to see the pictures. "You can look, Sonia. I don't think Chuck will mind. Just be careful."

As Sonia made her way off the couch, Sarah walked down the hallway to the bedroom. She decided on a pair of jeans and a tank top, changing quickly. She could hear Sonia rattling the papers in the living room. Satisfied the child was safe, she went to Chuck's room and grabbed him a pair of jeans and a t-shirt with the word 'gamer' across the chest. She put them in a gym bag and made her way out to the living room. "Hey, would you like some water before we go?" She saw Sonia nod absently at the comment, intent on looking through all the pictures before they left.

Sonia sat on her knees looking through the portraits Chuck did a long time ago. She had been switching through the pictures rapidly, looking at them but not in great detail, however the current one caused her to do a double take and stare.

When the papers had stopped rustling, Sarah looked at Sonia. "Is everything okay?"

"It looks like you," she said staring down at the picture in her hands.

"What looks like me?" Sarah asked as she walked into the living room. Sonia held out the drawing and Sarah gently took it from her hands. The portrait was of a girl wearing shabby clothes and playing a violin. Her skirt was white with a blue floral pattern and she had on a light blue collared button-up shirt and wore white tennis shoes. She had short dirty blond hair pulled out of her eyes in a half up, half down fashion. While you couldn't see all of her face since her hand and bow covered some of it, her eyes were closed and her brow was furrowed in serene concentration. In the bottom right corner was the title "Bach- Air on the G String" with Chuck's signature and the date March 1998. There was no question it was Sarah in that picture, or more accurately, Jenny Burton.

Sarah remembered that day as if it were yesterday. That was the day she auditioned for Julliard. She had worn the nicest clothes she owned at the time, which obviously weren't much for an audition to such a prestigious school. She still felt confident that it went alright and felt proud that she actually went through with it. She'd been on her way home to talk to her father about it, to tell him how the audition went and about her concerns regarding acceptance, except . . . that was also the day her father was arrested. The day she was recruited. The day everything changed.

Sarah looked over to Sonia. She hated lying to such a beautiful child, but she couldn't very well tell her the truth. "I don't think that's me, Sonia. I didn't even know Chuck then. I only met him a couple years ago."

"Okay," Sonia nodded and shrugged, "I still think it looks like you."

Sarah feigned a laugh as she put the picture back into the box and gathered the rest of the pictures as casually as possible, putting them in over top. "Let's get going. We have to pick up Chuck and get over to your birthday party at the zoo."

Sonia's interest in the picture diminished in the blink of an eye at the mention of a zoo, "Woo hoo! The zoo. I like the animals. Lions and tigers and bears-"

"Oh my," Sarah said as a small joke to herself.

Sonia however understood the reference to the Wizard of Oz and laughed excitedly, clapping her hands, "You know about Dorothy?"

Sarah laughed at her exuberance, "Everyone knows about Dorothy."

Sonia ran for the door, "Come on, come on. Let's go! I wanna see the animals!"

"Alright, slow down, Dorothy." Sarah grabbed the two bottles of water and rushed out the door after Sonia.

*********

Traffic was a mess so Sarah had talked Chuck into changing in the car on the way. They were stopped on the freeway, a half mile away from their needed exit and Chuck still hadn't changed yet. He was busy distracting himself with singing the kiddie songs he'd put on his iPod for Sonia. Sonia was laughing and having a great time mumbling along with the songs. Sarah just sat in the driver's seat with an amused smile across her face. She hadn't said much since they picked up Chuck but she didn't mind at all. She had a lot of things on her mind at the moment and wasn't really in the mood to talk anyway.

Chuck and Sonia were currently belting out 'I wanna be like you' from Disney's Jungle Book and dancing as well as they could in their seats. Chuck was poking his fingers in the air and swaying back and forth. Sonia was copying as best she could in a harnessed car seat and he sang the words, "Oh, oo-be-do, I wanna be like you oo oo, I wanna walk like you, talk like you, too oo oo." He nudged Sarah with his elbow as he continued to sway, "Come on, Sarah. Get into it."

Sarah laughed and mimicked his actions half heartedly with a dropped jaw. She didn't know the words to the song so she just danced along. She could see they were starting to get an audience from the kid in the car next to them. The child's face was alight with glee. She couldn't see Chuck's face but guessed he had a similar look too.

Chuck noticed the child too and turned the volume up on the radio while simultaneously rolling down his window. The little boy, who couldn't be more than six or seven, rolled down his window also and he and Chuck made trumpet sounds at each other and wiggled their fingers in front of their faces. The mother in the other car turned around at the sounds emanating from her child and saw him playing with the much older man child in the other car. She laughed at how much fun they were having but still shot a confused look over to Sarah.

Sarah put her palms up and pulled her shoulders to her ear, giving the woman a _'What can you do?'_ look. The woman just smiled broadly at Sarah and swept her hand in a 'whatever' manner. She lipped over to Sarah, _'Well, at least he's not bored.'_

Sarah smiled and nodded. Traffic started to move again, refocusing Sarah on the task at hand again. They got off at the designated exit and started on their way to the zoo. She turned down the radio and looked over to Chuck. "You should change."

He sighed, "But, bu-"

"No buts, Chuck. We are already late as it is. We were supposed to be there twenty minutes ago. There is no time to doddle."

Chuck dropped his shoulders in resignation, "Oh, fine." He started slowly unbuttoning his shirt. He was in such a rush to get to work this morning, he hadn't put on an undershirt and the idea of undressing in front of Sarah was less than appealing, especially considering what happened last time. Chuck had noticed Sarah's silence and was concerned that it had something to do with that afternoon. But she hadn't seemed upset at the time. Granted, she's had all afternoon to dwell on it. And if she was mad, he didn't want to exacerbate it so he went on as she asked. He'd just talk to her later.

On her side, however, she was well aware of every movement he made. Each button that was released exposed more of his tanned skin. She tried to maintain focus on the road but couldn't seem to keep her eyes from drifting over to the passenger seat every so often. She swallowed hard, trying to shake these thoughts from her mind.

"Did you just say doddle?" He was trying to distract her from paying attention to him and to keep both of them from over thinking the situation. Well, that, and he was a nervous babbler. She didn't answer but he heard her let out a breath and she had half a smile on her face as she shook her head. "It's such a funny word, don't you think? Doddle." He shook his head. Once he finally had his gamer shirt on, he looked over to Sarah. If he wasn't mistaken he could see she had a slightly flushed look. He just attributed it to the fact that the sun was shining on her and since her focus was straight ahead, it couldn't possibly have anything to do with him. As they turned into the zoo parking lot, Chuck said, "I think I'll wait on the pants."

Sarah smiled as she turned to look at him for a second. She was inwardly grateful she would be out of the car when he was changing the rest of the way. She rolled down the window and addressed the gate keeper, "Excuse me, we are here for the Sonia Grimes party. You wouldn't happen to know the easiest way to get there?"

The man looked Sarah up and down, licking his lips before responding, "Sure. It's to the west side," he pointed his hand to the left and smirked, "which is that way." His tone matched his smirk and Sarah felt a shrill of disgust pulse through her.

Sarah rolled her eyes, "I know which way is west. Thank you." She paid the man for parking and took her ticket, jetting off out of his presence. She shuddered in relief as they passed the gate man. She was used to men gaping at her. That was normal and sometimes it was even appreciated depending on who it was and how it was done. But to leer at her like she was meat and then question her intelligence was something she couldn't stand, even if that was one of the easiest ways for men to give her the information she needed on missions. She easily found a parking spot and quickly jumped out of the car. She pulled open Sonia's door and started to get her out.

Chuck was a little taken aback at the change. Of course, it was no secret he hated it when people acted like that towards her or any woman really. He had so much respect and admiration for her and he thought that everyone should share that. He'd never actually seen her react that way because of it though. He didn't say anything as she got out of the car, just silently went about changing his clothes.

As Sarah fussed with the car seat harness, the sound of a belt being undone drew her attention away from the task at hand. Keeping her head down, she risked a peek towards the front. She could see the muscles on Chuck's legs flex as he pushed up from the seat to push his pants down his hips. Sarah immediately regretted the decision and looked towards Sonia. She got her out of the seat, setting her to stand next to the car and went to grab the ice chest from the trunk holding the salad in it.

The picnic area wasn't too far from the parking lot and Sonia easily caught sight of her mother. "Mommy! Mommy!" she shouted excitedly, running across the parking lot to her.

"Sonia! Wait!" Isabel cried as tires screeched.

Sarah turned at Sonia's scream. She quickly jumped into action, grabbing the child and roughly diving out of the way of the on coming car. Her exposed shoulder scraped across the pavement, taking most of the hit when she rolled to protect Sonia from hitting the ground.

The whole party ran over to them and the driver and Chuck got out of their respective cars. Sarah immediately started to look over Sonia to make sure she didn't get hurt, "Are you okay? Do you hurt any where?"

Sonia sniffled from fright but shook her head negatively. Sarah let out a sigh of relief as Isabel pushed her way in and picked up Sonia starting to check her in the same way Sarah had done moments before. "Are you okay, Sweetie? What did I tell you about running in the street?"

The driver from the car started with an apology, "Oh, I'm so sorry! She just came out of no where . . ." He knelt down to make sure the little girl was okay. His heart was pounding so hard he was sure everyone could hear it.

Since Sonia was already being taken care of, Chuck left them to their conversation, his first concern being for Sarah. She was looking down at the scrape on her arm with a grimace on her face. Sarah had dropped the ice chest in her rush to get to Sonia and the salad container broke so it was everywhere. Chuck picked up the ice chest. It still had some water and ice in it, so he grabbed his Buy More shirt and wetted it down. He knelt next to Sarah and started cleaning the wound, "Here, let me."

Sarah kept quiet as she looked back and forth between Chuck and her arm. She studied his face, shrouded in concern, as he repeatedly dipped the shirt into the water and wiped her arm clean. He was being so gentle. It didn't hurt at all.

Isabel and the others looked over to where Chuck was fixing up Sarah. As they started to crowd around the couple, Isabel asked, "Oh my God, Sarah! Are you hurt?"

Sarah reluctantly looked away from Chuck and toward the gathering crowd, "Oh, its fine. It's not that bad." She was a little self conscious with all the people staring at her.

Ellie was right by Chuck's side in a flash, "Let me take a look, Chuck."

Chuck looked over to his sister. He wordlessly handed her his shirt and rolled back to the balls of his feet and out of the way of the professional. He maintained eye contact with Sarah over Ellie's shoulder as she kept pressure on the wound. _'Are you okay?'_

Sarah gave him a small smile, _'I've had worse.'_

Ellie looked up to her husband to be, "Devon, will you get the first aid kit from the car? I don't think she needs stitches but we can bandage her up here."

Sarah looked at Ellie for the first time, "That's okay. I'm fine. Really. It'll just scab over."

"Sarah, we need to get some antibiotic ointment on there so it doesn't get infected," Ellie said very sternly, the doctor within her shining through.

Sarah sighed at her determined 'boyfriend's' sister and quietly responded, "Okay, fine. But could we not do this in the middle of the parking lot? I can walk you know." At Ellie's nod, she then addressed the rest of the group more loudly, hoping to keep from a permanent audience, "I'm fine. I promise. Everyone can go back to the party."

As people turned to leave, the driver of the car gave Sarah one last look, "I am truly sorry."

"It's okay. It's not your fault."

Chuck helped Sarah to her feet as the man got into his car and left. "You're sure you're alright?" he asked as Sarah tested her limbs.

"I'm fine, Chuck."

Ellie shook her head, "Sarah, you almost got ran over by a car. How can you say you're fine?"

'_It wouldn't be the first time . . .'_ Sarah thought sadly. She sighed and looked at Ellie, "The important word there is almost. I almost got hit by a car but didn't. It would've been worse if it had been Sonia. I couldn't let her get hit either. It was just a reaction." She shook her head and looked down, "It shouldn't have even happened at all. I should have been paying closer attention."

Ellie was saddened at Sarah self depreciating expression. She wasn't mad at her. No one had a right to be mad at her for her heroic actions. She'd just been scared for her safety. "You can't control these things, Sarah. It's not your fault."

"Yes, it is my fault, Ellie," Sarah protested exasperatedly. "She was under my care, my watch. It was my responsibility to look out for her. If something had happened-"

"Sarah, stop," Chuck said. He knew she would continually beat herself up about this if someone didn't step in. He knew how protective she could be and how ashamed of herself she could get if she felt she wasn't performing up to par. Hell, he'd been on the receiving end and the cause of most of it. He pulled her into a hug and looked over her head at Ellie. "Could you give us a minute, please?"

Ellie nodded and turned to join the group. She stopped Devon as she moved away from her younger brother and his girlfriend and pulled him over to the table with her. "They need a minute."

Isabel saw them coming over without Sarah and Chuck. "Is she okay?" she asked concerned.

Ellie nodded, "She says she's fine but she's really beating herself up about the situation even happening."

Isabel was shocked. "What? That's crazy. She couldn't have stopped a three year old from running out into the street. That would have happened regardless of who was with her. The difference would have been Sonia getting out of the way or not. She saved her. She shouldn't be upset at herself."

Devon was now privy to a bit more information about Sarah and her actions and reactions made a lot more sense to him than to the others. "I think Sarah just has a very strong protective nature and sense of responsibility. She had been taking care of Sonia all afternoon. I bet she feels a little responsible because Sonia hadn't fully passed back to your care." He looked over to where Chuck and Sarah were standing as he continued, "She's just processing. Chuck will help her." He turned back to the group, and with his normal 'awesome' smiled said, "But how awesome was that dive, huh?"

The group laughed at his attempt to cheer them up. Ellie slapped his arm in comical admonishment. Everyone started to scoop food onto their plates and waited for the hero of the day to join them.

**********

As Ellie was walking away, Chuck stroked Sarah's back comfortingly. He echoed Ellie's earlier statement quietly whispering to her, "Sarah, this isn't your fault. You can't control everything. I know you want to but sometimes these things happen."

Her good arm was underneath his and wrapped up on his shoulder while the other rested against his chest in a loose embrace. "I know." Sarah's voice was mumbled by his chest since her head was dipped against his shoulder. She turned her face so it rested in the crook of his neck, allowing her to be heard better, "But what happens when it's you? Like at the train station? I had the shot but I didn't take it because it was you. My reaction should have been as quick as this one but it wasn't. And you almost paid the price."

Chuck rocked her a little as he asked, "Is that what this is about?"

"Partly."

"Sarah," Chuck pulled back a little and took her hand that rested on his chest in his hand and moved it over his heart, holding it there, "Feel that? I'm alive everyday because of the things you do for me. From the very moment you came into my life, I came alive in a way I've never even dreamed about. And it's all because of you, Sarah Walker. I get to live because you keep me living. Never doubt that you do more than enough for me everyday."

As a stray tear ran down her face, Chuck took his hand off hers and brought it to her cheek, gently wiping it from existence. Her face looked as if the tear had never been there in the first place. Her hand stayed on his chest, feeling his heart beat through his skin. Her heart soared with his words as she felt the guilt she'd been harboring for the better part of a year ebb away. She thought for sure that had been part of the reason he said the things he said afterward. She tightened her grip around him with her good arm.

He bent down and kissed her forehead, "You ask far too much of yourself sometimes."

His tone had a hint of jovialness and teasing to it causing her to smile a little. She didn't know what to say without it causing problems so she chose to keep quiet. Sometimes it's just better to say nothing.

He reciprocated for a moment before giving her one last peck on the forehead and pulling back, rubbing his hands quickly up and down her back, "Come on. Let's get you bandaged up and then eat some good food so we can walk around the zoo. Yeah? How does that sound?"

Sarah laughed, glad he wasn't pushing any sort of conversation. He seemed so excited to get to walk around the zoo. It was hard not to share some of his enthusiasm. "Okay. That sounds nice."

Chuck draped his arm over her shoulders and she wrapped her good one around his waist allowing him to lead her over to the group she was quite sure would scold her for her negligence. Just before they reached ear shot of the party, Chuck whispered to her once more, "Just so you know, you are my hero. And I'm not just saying that."

Sarah smiled up at him a little shocked but wasn't given the opportunity to respond as Isabel made their approach known. She rushed over to the couple and gave Sarah a big hug, "Sarah, you are my favorite person ever!"

Sarah's eyes widened in surprise as she was pulled from Chuck. It took a moment for her to comprehend what Isabel said but when she did, she asked confused, "You're not . . . mad?"

"Mad?" Isabel repeated, releasing Sarah, "I'm not mad. Why would I be mad? If anything I should be mad at Sonia. She knows better than to run across the street without looking."

"I don't know. I guess I thought you would think I'm a careless excuse for a babysitter."

"Not at all, Sarah. If possible, I think we love you even more."

"You love me?" Sarah repeated. It'd been so long since some one had said they loved her. Even if it's implied, when you go so long without hearing it, it's strange when you do.

"Of course we do." Isabel turned her attention to Chuck and with an accusing glare she said, "Have you not told this woman you love her?"

"I, um," Chuck stuttered as he tried to explain, "Well, you see-"

Sarah jumped in to save him from this conversation. It was her fault he'd been put in this situation, "Of course he says it. It's just that . . . well, I've only met you the one time. I was just shocked that you'd be so open about it. It's not something I'm used to," she laughed sheepishly, playing her part perfectly.

Isabel shook her head with a smile, "Sarah, I wouldn't have left you with my daughter all day long if I didn't like you to _some_ degree."

Sarah blushed a little, "That's true."

Ellie smiled, "Come on. We need to get you a bandage."

Sarah looked over her shoulder at Chuck as Ellie led her away. "You coming?" she asked concerned. She was always uncomfortable in large groups of normal people without his guidance to help her navigate. She still carried some parts of the shy introverted girl of her youth with her.

"Ah, yeah," Chuck said and then looked back to the car, "Yeah, but I should probably clean up the mess a little bit. I'll catch up." He offered her a smile of reassurance.

'_Hurry.'_

'_You'll be fine. Promise.'_

Sarah turned around and addressed Isabel, "I'm sorry about the salad."

"Don't worry about it. We have plenty of food."

***********

Everyone was sitting around eating ice cream after a fabulous late lunch. They all made sure to give Sarah their thanks but it seemed to make Sarah attach herself to Chuck's hip. Normally she didn't mind being alone in groups, in fact she really liked it but all this attention caused her spy senses to kick into overdrive. Attention wasn't a good thing in her line of work. Surprisingly enough, Devon was helping direct people's attention away from her which she was grateful for.

Chuck had noticed Sarah's discomfort at all the attention and pulled her away to sit on the bench to eat their ice cream. Even though they'd been with each other for most of the day, this is the first time it's felt like it. "So, I wanted to ask you something."

"Okay," she said swallowing a bite of ice cream.

She had a little cream at the corner of her mouth and he reached up to his face, hinting at where it was located, "You have a little . . ."

"Oh." She brushed her hand against her cheek in an attempt to wipe it away. "Did I get it?"

He laughed and shook his head, "No." He reached out and swept his thumb across the corner of her mouth, "Wrong side."

Electricity crackled at the innocent maneuver causing both individuals to pause. Chuck was already looking at her lips due to his earlier finding. His eyes slid up her face to meet hers only to find that hers were dropped to his mouth. He waited for her to look up and once she did, they stared in silence for a moment. Both knew what would happen if something didn't break the tension. Sarah swallowed and opened her mouth to speak, betraying her want for something else, "You wanted to ask me something?" She barely managed to whisper the question.

If he hadn't been sitting right there, he wouldn't have known what she said. His whisper matched hers as he said, "I just wanted to make sure you're not upset . . . about earlier . . . at the Buy More . . ."

Their torsos edged towards the middle, their eyes still focused on each other but slipping every so often to the lips of the other. "I-"

"Sarah, Sarah!" Sonia shouted running up to her. "Come see the aminals."

They sprang back from each other, the moment broken as Sonia pulled Sarah away to a standing position. "Okay, but just for a little while," she said being dragged off. Sarah looked over her shoulder to see Chuck smiling sadly yet understandingly as she left with the small child. She gave him the answer to his question with the slightest shake of her head and then turned to pay attention to where she was walking but not before catching Chuck's smile change to a happy one.

**********

Ellie, Devon, Chuck and Sarah helped carry bags of presents out to Isabel's car. None of the guests wanted Sarah to help because of her arm but she insisted so they gave her the lightest bag that contained only a t-shirt. Once the trunk was closed, Ellie turned to the group, "So, I know we were supposed to have date night tonight but in light of recent events, I'd totally understand if you weren't feeling up to it." The last part was directed toward Sarah.

"Oh," Sarah looked between the three, trying to gauge how much they all really wanted to go. She was pretty tired all things considered and truthfully, she would rather stay home, but she didn't want to disappoint anyone. "We could just do something simple. Get a drink or something?"

Ellie and Devon smiled, "Okay. A drink would be nice."

It was five o'clock so they made plans to meet in the courtyard at eight. They broke off and headed to their cars. "Do you want me to drive, Sarah?" He seemed pretty hopeful that he would be able to. He'd always wanted to drive an expensive car.

Sarah took in his hopeful expression and smiled, "Well . . ."

As her voice trailed off he clasped his hands together and said, "Oh, please, please, please with a cherry on top. I'll be careful."

"One scratch, Bartowski, and I'll break your neck," she said holding out the keys to him.

"Yes!" Chuck did a happy dance as he took the keys from her. He held open the passenger door for her. Since the shoulder that would be used to grab the seat belt was injured, like second nature, Chuck did it up for her and closed the door, smiling all the while.

He still seemed preoccupied with being able to drive the car and Sarah was pretty sure he didn't even register doing it. She smiled and shook her head in astonishment as she watched him rush around the front of the car to the driver's side. It was the little things that proved how much you meant to someone, how much someone cared. Sarah was pretty sure Chuck cared a lot.

**********

Sarah had dosed off during the drive home. Chuck let her sleep, humming quietly along to the radio to keep himself occupied. As he put the emergency brake on, he looked over at Sarah. He brushed the bangs out of her face a little and whispered, "Sarah? Sarah, we're home."

She took in a deep breath and awoke to Chuck's gentle prodding. Her eyes squinted tiredly up at him as she let out a yawn and stretch. She sighed as she came out of the stretch. Her eyes fluttered shut as she said quietly, "You didn't kill my car."

Chuck laughed, "And this surprises you?"

She smiled and rubbed her eyes, "Not at all."

He patted her leg, "Come on. Let's go inside. You can rest some more on the couch."

She groaned as she stepped out of the car. He'd waited for her at the front of the car, one arm outstretched invitingly. She leaned tiredly against him as he led her through the courtyard. He opened the door and guided her to the couch, assisting her to a sitting position. "I'm sorry I'm so tired," she said as she adjusted herself on the couch, getting more comfortable. She grabbed the pillow and lay on her stomach. It seemed the week of hard work was catching up with her. Between getting the apartment ready and moving and dancing and staying up late, removing wall paper, babysitting, almost getting hit by a car, it's no wonder she hasn't crashed before now. It had most certainly been an eventful week.

Chuck knelt in front of her, resting his chin on his fist and petting her hair with the other. "Why don't you rest some more? I'll amuse myself with some video games and I'll wake you up before we have to get ready."

"Mm, -kay," she said as she drifted off once again.

Chuck watched her for a few moments longer. He grabbed the throw blanket from the back of the couch and tucked it around her. The day had started off so crapily but it turned into one of the best days he could remember. A knock on the door drew Chuck away from Sarah as he quietly made his way to the entrance. Looking through the peep hole- Sarah would kill him if he just opened it- he saw Ellie on the other side. He opened the door with a finger to his lips, "Shhh. Sarah's asleep. What's up?"

"Okay." she whispered and handed him a trial packet of aspirin, "I wasn't sure if you guys got medicines yet so I thought I'd bring over some."

Chuck took the item from his sister with a smile, "Thanks."

"You're welcome." She looked past him to Sarah's sleeping form on the couch. "You know, just let her sleep. We can do the date night some other time."

"You sure?"

Ellie smiled, "Yeah. She deserves a night off. I know she's not used to all this family stuff. Have a good night." She leaned in and gave Chuck a kiss on the cheek and a small hug.

"Good night, Ellie," he said as she walked across the courtyard. He closed and locked the door. Chuck turned around and looked at Sarah on the couch. From somewhere deep inside, he felt a sudden spark of inspiration. The familiar tingle in his finger tips coming back after years of absence led him down the hallway into his room. He dug around through a box and found an old 17"X 22" sketch pad he'd tucked away years before. It was right next to his charcoal pencils. He took the items back into the living room and sat across from her, pencil at the ready. For the first time in years, he drew something because he wanted to, not because he was asked to.

***************************

That's all for now. Sorry I didn't actually put date night in it. This seemed better because they really have done a ton of things this week. But there will be a date night, I promise =) Let me know what you think.


	13. Chapter 13

A/N: Special shout out to Zyfr again for being the 141st review. She couldn't have planned it any better if she tried although she claims she didn't. =)

So this chapter is kind of a pointless chapter really. It's more because I've realized that I will be going on a road trip to my cousin's wedding (told you there are tons of these this year) and I probably won't be able to update for a couple weeks so I threw this short little chapter together for you guys cuz you're all so awesome. I'm going to try to make it sooner than that but you never know how these things will go sometimes. It's short and fluffy but hopefully it will tide you over til I can do the real update, well I guess this is real but . . . oh you know what I mean . . .

Chapter Thirteen

When Sarah awoke to a dark apartment, her body bolted up in alarm. Looking over to the clock, it read nine seventeen. She and Chuck were supposed to meet Ellie and Devon over an hour ago and Chuck said he would wake her to get ready. Her heart beat raced as her mind ran rabid with thoughts of Chuck's well being, or lack there of. She sat up quickly and started to move to a standing position when a glass of water sitting on the table next to a note with two aspirins on top of it caught her eye. She immediately grabbed for the note, disregarding the pills and almost spilling the water. Her eyes scanned quickly over the note and she let out a breath of relief when she noted the signature was Chuck's.

_Hey Sarah,_

_I'm outside at the pool with Ellie and Devon so don't freak out. We decided to do date night another night so you could rest some. Ellie left some aspirin for you to take for your shoulder. You can come out and join us if you'd like._

_Chuck_

_Oh, p.s. I left a turkey sandwich with extra pickles and the works for you in the fridge. It's not toasted how you like it since that might taste funny . . . I wasn't sure when you'd wake up, and you should eat something if you take the pills. I hope you slept well . . . Wow, I even babble in notes. Sorry! I'll just . . . yeah_

Sarah smiled widely at the note. He was always so thoughtful. As she bent to grab the fallen pills, her sore shoulder protested the movement causing her to grimace. She hadn't noticed before in her state of worry for Chuck, the state of her shoulder. She stretched and rolled the stiffened limb, testing its range of motion. Satisfied it had been loosened up enough, she popped the medicine into her mouth, taking a swig of water. She took the glass with her to the kitchen where she went straight for the fridge.

Sure enough, a plate with a turkey sandwich covered by saran wrap rested on the top shelf. The smile was once again brought back to her face as she took the plate out and set it on the countertop. It was nice being taken care of for once. She hopped up next to it and unwrapped the prize in delight. The first bite caused her shoulders to drop and her eyes to close in bliss. _'Why do these always taste so much better when Chuck makes them?'_ she thought to herself. Even without it being toasted, she still liked it.

It didn't take her long to finish up the sandwich. She put the plate and glass in the sink and then went back to her bedroom to grab a sweater. She needed to check on Chuck to make sure he really was where he was supposed to be. She wasn't too worried because it had to have been Chuck that left the note since no one else knew what her favorite sandwich was let alone how to make it properly. In fact, excluding Chuck, no one made it more to her liking than herself. One bite and she would have known.

She walked out the front door and through the courtyard to the pool area, still a little cautious at what she might find. Ellie and Devon were on one lounge chair and Chuck was on another, his long legs stretched out in front of him and his arms rested across his chest. Both chairs rested in the second notch allowing all parties to sit back, lazing comfortably. Chuck was smiling at something Devon was explaining. It must have been a joke or something because when the punch line came, he threw his head back in laughter and clapped his hands together once. His eyes twinkled underneath the dim string lights around the pool. He fit there with his family. Sarah wished he could always be this happy. She stepped around the bush she'd kept herself hidden behind and opened the gate.

Chuck turned when he heard the sound of the gate opening. The sight of Sarah standing there caused his smile to widen to impossible proportions. "Hey, Beautiful," he said cheerfully as she turned around.

"Hi," she said with a bashful smile, making eye contact with Chuck as she crossed the last few steps and stood next to the group, almost a part of it but not quite, an outsider looking in. "I'm sorry we didn't get to go out tonight."

Ellie looked up at Sarah with a smile, "Don't even worry about it. This is just as much fun. In fact, Devon and I did get some drinks. Would you like one?"

Sarah tilted her head to the side as she replied, "Probably not a good idea since I just took that aspirin. Thanks for that by the way."

"No problem, but by drinks we meant water and powerade."

"Oh. I'm okay, thanks." Sarah shifted her feet awkwardly as everyone paused in the conversation. All the chairs had been taken so she just stood there strangely. She felt like she was intruding or ruining their good time with her presence since no one was conversing any more. She was about to say good night and go back inside but Chuck seemed to sense her discomfort and uncrossed his legs and held open his arms for her, an inviting smile across his face.

"Wanna sit?" He figured she was going to retreat by the look in her eye but he couldn't resist the offer of being able to 'fake' cuddle with Sarah. It was one of his most favorite things to do and he always liked having her around. Always.

Sarah bowed her head sheepishly and gave a slight nod, "Sure." Some part within her that had long been dormant or perhaps never even existed before this very moment said to her, _'When are you going to get it through your thick skull that these people want you around? Unconditionally.'_

Chuck sat up and bent his legs to straddle the chair so Sarah could get settled without them being in the way. He fixed the chair so it rested a little more upright. Once she was comfortable and resting back against his chest, Chuck brought his legs up and wrapped his arms around her stomach, rolling them back to relax against the chair. "Are you comfortable? I'm not hurting your shoulder, am I?"

The worry evident in his voice and immediate concern for her well being made her smile, "I'm just fine."

"Good," Chuck said leaning down to give her a kiss on the top of her head.

"Yeah, how is your shoulder feeling, Sarah?" Ellie asked, remembering the day's events.

"It's pretty sore but nothing a good massage and a couple days won't fix. I'm sure I've had worse at some point."

Chuck's brow furrowed as his lips tightened knowingly, but said nothing. He seemed genuinely pained by the things from her past, things he had no control, even though he never knew her then.

"Okay. We have some IcyHot if you'd like. It'll help with the tension."

"Thanks, Ellie."

With Sarah now immersed in the conversation, Devon started recounting old stories from his frat days and the crazy things they tried with cars like pushing shopping carts around parking lots and riding on hoods at high speeds.

Chuck whispered to Sarah, "Did you sleep okay?"

She turned her head and nodded but didn't offer a verbal response, just as relaxed as she could ever remember being. She had stopped paying attention to Devon's story, loosing herself in thought while absentmindedly drawing lazy circles over Chuck's wrists. She really thought she could do this, live without spying and sit outside after a long day conversing with friends, relaxed, not wondering if it would all end the next moment or worrying about their motives. A deep peace overcame her as she listened to the beat of Chuck's heart and felt his chest rumbled with laughter as they shared crazy stories from the hospital and Buy More.

Devon started with a different story about when he went white water rafting with his brothers. He got really animated as he was explaining the trip and describing the conditions of the water, which Ellie got a horrified look at some things mentioned. She was hearing what he was saying just not really listening. It wasn't until he was coming to the end that she started paying attention again because he'd mentioned something about Chuck going.

". . . anyway, it was an awesome trip! You should come next time, bro. You'd have a lot of fun."

Chuck tightened his lips in response, "I don't know, Devon. The idea of flying fifteen feet in the air and possibly landing on a sharp, pointy rock in freezing cold water just doesn't sound all that appealing."

"But that's the fun of it!"

"Yeah, well, forgive me if I don't share that sentiment."

Ellie laughed and yawned, snuggling into Devon's side a little more as she let it out a sigh. Devon brushed her hair a little and watched her for a little bit. He bent down and gave her a kiss on her forehead and whispered, "You wanna go inside, Babe?"

"In a little while. Sarah just got here."

"Okay," he said rubbing her back a bit.

"It's fine if you want to go in, Ellie. I'm kinda tired myself."

"You sure?"

Sarah nodded once, "I'm sure."

"Hmm, okay. Let's go in, Devon."

Devon slid out from underneath her and helped Ellie to her feet. They turned to the remaining couple and bid them good night. Sarah felt Chuck lean his head back to rest against the chair. He let out a contented sigh causing Sarah to look up at him awkwardly. His gaze was directed toward the abnormally clear sky above. Tonight it was much easier to see the stars. She had to admit, she missed being able to see them. "What are you thinkin' about?"

"Hmm?" he said as he looked down, "Oh, nothing. Just taking a moment to appreciate the stars. We don't get to see them very often because of all the smog and everything, so it's nice to take a moment when you get the opportunity."

"Yeah. They're pretty awesome."

Chuck let out a small laugh, "Hmm, hmm, you've been around Devon way too much."

"Hey, I like the word awesome. It's awesome."

"As implied by the word itself."

"Alright, Professor. I thought you went to school for computers not English."

"Hey now, I may not know . . . however many languages you know but I'd like to think a have a pretty good mastery of the one I use everyday."

Sarah chuckled but offered no response causing a slight lull in conversation. In that short time, Sarah decided to do something she never willingly did before. She wouldn't be able to tell you why she did it, but for some reason, she let him in a little, "Twenty-four."

"Huh?"

"Languages. I speak twenty-four different languages and can get by in several others."

Chuck looked down at her in surprise, "No kidding? Twenty-four?"

His tone had a bit of confusion mixed with it. She knew he had to be impressed but she couldn't resist a little ego rub. She turned slightly in his arms so she could see him better as she said, "What? Were you expecting more?"

"No, no, no, no, God no. Twenty-four is a hugely incredible amount. I don't know anyone that comes even remotely close to that." Chuck had been more flabbergasted by the fact that she would share something like that, even if the number was impressive. Granted it wasn't anything specific about her past- actually it probably pertained more to her job than anything else- but it was something true. Carina had said that's how he would know he was important.

"Did you ever learn another language?"

"No. Although, I do know how to sing part of one song in French with a terribly obvious American accent."

"Really?" Sarah asked with a spark of interest, "What song?"

"La Vie en Rose by Edith Piaf."

"Oh. I like that song. Sing it."

"No, I don't think so."

"Oh, come on, Chuck. Sing it."

"Absolutely not. If you know twenty four different languages, I would imagine it's a safe bet to say French is one of them, especially after the French assassins' thing, and I'd rather not be made fun of."

"I won't make fun of you," she said softly, "Please?"

Chuck grumbled a little. There she did it. She just had to say it. "Oh the things I do for you. You just had to go and say please and now I have to do it." Sarah laughed as he let out a sigh before starting, "Des yeux qui font baiser les miens, Un rire qui se perd sur sa bouche, Voila le portrait sans retouche, De l'homme auquel j'appartiens."

Sarah started with a small smile and it slowly grew larger the further along he went into the song. He wasn't doing too bad. Actually, he sounded quite good. So the American accent was there a little bit. She found it kind of endearing.

Chuck stopped singing after he looked down at her smiling face, "Satisfied?"

"Yes, thank you." She settled her cheek against his chest, looking out across the water in the pool. The moonlight glistened off the water, its reflection uninhibited in the dull lighting around the area. A comfortable silence nestled around them as they both spent the time basking in a rare moment of ease. "Do you know the rest?"

Chuck had closed his eyes with his head resting against the chair, happy to stay out as long as Sarah wanted. "In English."

"Well, by all means, continue, please."

"Really, Sarah?" he groaned, "Do I have to?"

She looked up at him, laughing at his expression of distaste, "By your rules, I said please so yes."

"Oh, fine." His shoulders drooped a little and he bobbed his head from side to side, speeding up the tempo a little. Every so often he would tap a beat against her hip, "Hold me close and hold me fast, the magic spell you cast, this is La Vie en Rose."

Sarah smiled copied his actions, tapping against his chest when he would against her hip starting to sing along with him, "When you kiss me heaven sighs, and though I close my eyes, I see La Vie en Rose."

"When you press me to your heart, I'm in a world apart, A world where roses bloom . . ." Sarah trailed off looking at Chuck expectantly, not knowing rest of the words herself. She let out a laugh as Chuck continued unknowingly, "Something about speaking and angels singing and then words turning into love songs and da do da . . ."

They both came back for the last part as they now remembered from here on out, but they did it in a joking fashion, each sticking their free arm out- well, Sarah as best she could- singing, "Give your heart and soul to me, And life will always be, La vie en rose."

Sarah laughed and burrowed deeper into Chuck as a gust of wind passed through the clear night sky, a small tremor going through her. Even though he'd been having a good time with it and not really trying, she still thought he had a pretty good voice. She'd really like it if she could hear him when he was trying though. "You, Mr. Bartowski, have a nice voice."

Chuck tightened his grip in an attempt to warm her, "As do you, Ms. Walker." He rubbed her back and arms a couple more times before asking, "So what does that even mean? La Vie en Rose?"

"Literally or-"

Chuck shrugged, "Both."

"Well, literally it means 'life in pink,' but its most commonly translated as 'life through rose-colored glass.'"

"Ah," Chuck said with a nod, "Look at you, smarty pants."

"Hey, you asked."

"I know. I'm just admiring your brain. It's quite lovely if I do say so myself. And it's nice to know that not only do I have a hot fake girlfriend but a smart hot fake girlfriend."

Sarah chuckled at his comment. Little did they want to admit, the line between real and fake was fading quickly. Each moment they were together was bringing them closer and closer, allowing them to explore and reveal different sides of their personalities, causing them to be more and more drawn to each other. They were both still in denial about it, thinking it was too good to be true and that they were putting way too much hope into something that couldn't happen, neither wanting to put all their eggs in one basket. But it was happening, slowly but surely.

In moments like this, it was nice to hold on to the idea that they could view things through rose-colored glass.

*****************

That's all for now. By the way, in case you're wondering, the saying 'viewing things through rose colored glass' basically means that your choosing to view the glass as half full instead of half empty.


	14. Chapter 14

A/N: Hey, hey. Long time no hear . . . from me. I'm really sorry about that. We had a power outage where I live and I was struggling with finding my inner Casey. Yokaputo is helping with that and Bill had lots of fun stuff to share about the direction of the story so we're in good shape. I know I said that a chapter is a day or that's what I was shooting for but this day will be split into three. This chapter, one that we are fixing for the Casey stuff (should be up in the next couple days) and then one more with the majority dedicated to Chuck and General B- meaning a certain conversation I mentioned previously is going to happen. You'll find out why in this chapter though. Should be fun. Just a warning, slight language in this chapter.

Chapter Fourteen

Chuck and Sarah had spent the rest of the night making small talk before finally drifting off to sleep. They both awoke just before sunrise, surprised to find they had fallen asleep on the lounge chair outside. Sarah yawned and groaned in pain from her shoulder after she attempted to stretch. They were both quite stiff and sore from not moving at all through the night. Chuck comfortingly rubbed her back and asked, "You okay?" He'd never felt more rested even with as little of sleep as they'd gotten. He was sure he'd be feeling it later on. But it was worth it.

She smiled as she squinted up at him from the first peek of the rising sun, "Yeah, just sore." She stretched the rest of her body as best as she could before cuddling back into Chuck's side, her reasoning being it was a touch chilly out this morning. "I can't believe we fell asleep outside," she said sleepily.

She could feel him smile against her head as he said, "Yeah but it was such a lovely night."

"Yeah, it was fun." She rolled her shoulder in small circles, trying not to disturb Chuck.

His smile turned mischievous as he said, "You know, I could give you that massage if you'd like."

"Oh you could, could you?" Sarah smiled back just as playfully, propping herself up on her elbow.

His confidence faltered slightly, "Well, I don't really know what I'm doing but it could help. Whattaya say?"

"I'd like that."

He let out the breath he hadn't realized he was holding as a brilliant smile lit up his face, "Okay. Here, get up real fast. We can watch the sunrise." Sarah stood just off to the side while Chuck adjusted the chair to look east for the sunrise and put the back of the chair higher. He straddled the chair and offered his hand to Sarah who used it to keep her balance as she stepped over the lounge. She sat a ways away from him to give him adequate space to work. "I'm just guessing, but let me know if you don't like it or whatever."

"Okay."

He worked his hands across the tops of her shoulders and down around her shoulder blades keeping the pressure as even as possible. Her head dropped forward as he moved up the back of her neck in a circular motion. "Is this okay?"

"Just fine," she said distractedly. As he moved back down her shoulders, he hit a particularly sensitive spot causing her to tense.

Chuck noticed and stopped, immediately taking his hands off her. "I'm sorry."

"It's fine," she said, turning slightly to look at him, "Maybe not so hard there next time." She gave a small smile in hopes of encouraging him to continue.

"Okay," he said hesitantly, raising his hands to her shoulders once again. They spent the rest of the time in silence, working off non verbal cues for pressure and comfort.

Twenty minutes later, Sarah was feeling remarkably better. He wasn't too bad. With a little practice, he'd be just what the doctor ordered. She sighed contently as she relaxed back against him. His arms snaked around her as she asked, "So what's on your agenda today?"

"Well, Ellie asked me to go read to the kids at the hospital today. I figured it'd be okay since we don't have any missions or anything but I have the rest of the day off since it was originally supposed to be Sonia's party. So other than the reading thing, I'm free as a bird. And you?"

"Figured I'd try to talk to Casey today. Other than that, whatever you're doing."

"Awesome." It was just after six in the morning when the sun had fully risen. They listened to the birds chirp for a few minutes before he asked, "How bout some breakfast?" At her nod, they made their way inside to get the day started.

**********

Casey's alarm rang at six am sharp. Without thought, he began his morning routine. The only difference from this morning in comparison to the previous one was the fact that he ironed out his best non G-man suit and polished his shoes for the wedding later on that day. He still washed his Crown Vic the same way, he still ate the same breakfast prepared in the same order, he still showered at the same time, he still did a load of laundry.

As he was walking back from washing the Vic, he saw General Beckman standing in the courtyard. She seemed irritated. Her body was ramrod straight, arms crossed tightly to the point of white finger tips from her vice like grip. Her brow was knitted together and a scowl was present. She definitely was not happy. He chose to approach with caution. "General?" he asked quietly.

The General's head whipped up and focused on the Colonel. Her anger ebbed a little but her tone held animosity as she said, "What are you doing tonight?"

Casey kept his eyes on her but turned his head slightly to the left, "Trisha conned me into a date with Grace, but I can cancel. Is there a mission?"

She sighed, "No. And don't cancel. You are on vacation. Remember?" She sat down heavily against the fountain.

Casey put the bucket down next to his door and walked over to her. He sat next to her on the right as he asked, "What came up?"

Diane rolled her eyes, "Apparently General Calver is otherwise previously engaged and cannot make it to the Governor's Ball this evening and since I'm here, I've been informed that the wondrous 'privilege' falls to me to represent the NSA at the event. I'd just rather not suffer alone if I can help it."

He let out a disdainful grunt as he leaned forward and rested his forearms against his knees, "Well, thank God for vacations then." An evening with uptight, contrived individuals or an evening with a lovely woman and a bunch of unknowns? What to choose, what to choose.

"Be happy I think you deserve it," she said as she moved to stand. She turned back towards Casey before departing and gave a flourish of her hand, "Enjoy your evening, Colonel. I'm going to visit Eve while I can and then prepare for my night of boredom and booze."

He watched her walk away, thanking the powers that be for the string of events keeping him from a night of boredom and booze. Of course, that could always be how it would go anyway but somehow he doubted it would. Regardless of how tonight went, though, he would have to thank Trisha for being conniving enough to get him to go with Grace to this wedding. He grunted to himself and stood to retrieve his bucket of supplies, making his way into his apartment.

***************

Diane walked the pristine white halls of the hospital. Her footsteps echoed with soured anger at her predicament. She was supposed to have time off to be with her family and only communicate when necessary. A Governor's Ball was not a necessity. There wasn't even anyone there she was specifically supposed to speak with, she was just supposed to show up and torture herself with listening to people boast about their lives and flash their medals of decadence, always trying to one up the person they're 'conversing' with. It was a convention for brownnosers, suck-ups, and kiss assers everywhere. And in Diane's opinion, positively ghastly. And on top of it all, she has to go _alone._ The thought cause her shiver in disgust as she pushed open the door, forgetting to take the time to hide her distaste outwardly.

The three occupants in the room turned to see who the new comer was. Eve knitted her brow in confusion at her grandmother's demeanor, "Grams? What happened?"

She met Eve's gaze while sighing and rolling her eyes at her negligence to adjust her attitude. And perhaps because of tonight as well, "I have to go to the Governor's Ball tonight. _Alone_." The word tasted bitter as she spat it across her tongue.

Trisha grimaced, "Ouch. I'm sorry." She'd been the unlucky benefactor of going to those a couple times when David had to put in an appearance. And she sat through her fair share of similar events when she worked for NRAD.

Diane looked at Trisha with a raised brow, "I suppose _you_ aren't going to come with me then, Trisha."

Trisha smiled somewhat haughtily, "And you would be correct in your supposition."

Ellie had been sitting off to the side, watching the exchange. She had to come in early for a meeting but she didn't have to actually work until two so she decided to check in on Trisha and Eve while she waited for Chuck to be done reading. Ellie and Eve asked in unison, "Are they that bad?"

Trisha and Diane shared a repulsed laugh at the question. "They're dreadful," Trisha said.

Diane scoffed, "Especially when you have to go alone."

"You could take Chuck," Ellie suggested with a shrug. "He always makes awful things more fun."

Diane sat back in her chair, thinking. It could be bad to expose the asset to a group of officials since he'd more than likely flash on all of them but this could also be her chance to see his potential for field work. It could expose people whose loyalties have otherwise been shifted and get the ball rolling again. "You know, that is not a bad idea. I'll see if he is available."

"Okay. Great," Ellie said with a smile, "I did kind of rope him into reading to the children today so he should be here with Sarah somewhere. We are going to have lunch after he's done before my shift starts. You're all welcome to join us if you'd like."

Eve relaxed into the bed, "I think I'm going to rest for a bit but you guys have fun." The chemo was starting to catch up with her, draining her of practically all her energy. All she wanted to do was curl up and read a book or watch a movie. Something simple.

Noticing Eve's weariness, Ellie said softly, "How bout we go find Chuck? He should be just about done anyway."

Diane nodded and Trisha said, "I'll catch up with you guys in the cafeteria."

Ellie and Diane left, silently closing the door behind them. They walked side by side, neither saying anything as Diane followed Ellie to where Chuck should be. They went to the elevator, going to the next level up. When it stopped, they exited left and followed a long hall to a set of double doors. Ellie swiped her badge and lead Diane through them. They continued down another hallway. About halfway through, they turned right. Ellie abruptly stopped walking and grabbed Diane's arm, causing her to stop as well.

Diane confusedly looked at Ellie but could only see that she was smiling at something down the hall. Diane followed Ellie's gaze, her eyes landing on the sight of Agent Walker leaning against a door frame, her arms folded in front of her with her leather jacket draped over them. One leg was bent casually as if she'd been standing there for quite some time and there was a hint of a smile on her face, a gleam of adoration in her eye. Following Walker's gaze through the glass walls you could see the asset animatedly reading a story to the small children gathered around the play area. Some of the children sat on their parents lap, others sat with a nurse and others were all alone, but each one was laughing at his over exaggerated antics. Each one was included.

Ellie never took her eyes off Sarah as she said quietly to the shorter woman, "Look." She paused, pointing her finger down the hall, "I wish Chuck could be given the opportunity to see Sarah like that."

"Like what?" The General was well aware what Ellie was implying. But seeing it for herself was odd and definitely not good.

"So in love," Ellie turned to look at Diane. "I don't know why she hides it when she thinks people are watching, but in moments of solitude she doesn't fight it. It enraptures her. See?"

The General spared another glance down the hall. Ellie was right. She could see it. Sarah was compromised to the worst degree. She knew what she would have to do with her now. The General sighed regretfully and looked down to her feet before raising her gaze again, as if trying to erase the image from her mind so it could be forgotten but it was still there. There was no changing what she saw.

Ellie turned her gaze to the ambiguously troubled General. "I think watching Sarah is one of my most favorite things to do lately. It's like she is a completely different person from when we first met her."

The General sighed again. Ellie was unwittingly digging a grave for Walker and the asset. The more she heard, the more apparent it became what she had to do. Caring about each other was one thing, being in love was something completely different.

"What is it?" Ellie asked confused.

The General smiled tightly as a half truth passed her lips, "Nothing. Just remembering when I wished a boy would look at me the way they look at each other."

Ellie smiled, "It's never too late you know."

Diane laughed, "Oh my dear Eleanor. That ship sailed long ago."

"Why do you say that?" Ellie asked as she led Diane over to a bench in the hall. Clearly Chuck wasn't done yet so they had time. "I mean, why not? You're a fantastic and successful woman. It's amazing how far you've gone in a 'man's' profession," she said putting air quotes around the word man. "You have a wonderful family that loves you. It isn't so far fetched to believe that there is someone out there for you to be in love with, for them to be in love with you."

Diane smiled, "Well, I'm flattered by your opinion, but," she sighed, "I don't believe in that kind love anymore."

"What?" Ellie said, flabbergasted. "That's ridiculous, Diane. Don't you know what that kind of love does for you? It makes it so that anything is possible, and frees you from any notions of boundaries, like you're limitless. It's when you give yourself to someone so completely that all of their needs come before your own, knowing that in return, and without fail, all of your needs will be taken care of by them. That kind of love exists. You just have to be open to it."

From that statement the General was thrown back into not knowing quite what to do with Walker. On the one hand, you've got what protocol dictates and on the other, you've got results. It was apparent that the members of this team have gelled well over the course of this assignment. The 49B fiasco with Forrest was enough of an indicator of that. But the relationship between Walker and the asset was too far outside the bounds of protocol to ignore. It was a delicate scale she was dealing with. Ellie's statement was something to consider in this unique situation. Perhaps for the Bartowski family, love doesn't hinder them but makes them stronger. The asset had certainly shown a higher degree of aptitude when it was the people he knew and knew well in danger. That much was proven when that bearded friend of his was taken. _'Oh this is absurd, Diane, stop being so indecisive. Make a choice and stick with it,'_ she thought to herself. "That's a rather zealous statement."

"It's the truth," Ellie said simply. She watched Diane shake her head and huff in disbelief, causing Ellie's heart to drop a little. "What happened to make you so cynical?" she asked in a half teasing, half serious manner, not wanting to upset her new friend.

"I got married," Diane replied quickly, regretting it even quicker when she remembered the woman next to her was about to take that step in life, even if it was the right step for her.

Ellie frowned, but instead of sharing her thoughts on marriage, she chose to keep the focus on Diane, "You're married?"

"I was married a long time ago."

"And?"

"It . . . it didn't go well."

"What happened?"

Diane sighed. She felt somewhat guilty for not considering Ellie's feelings before so she explained without much detail, "We had a whirlwind romance that ended in flames. He knew exactly what to say, exactly what to do to cast his spell over me. I was so blinded by love that even the protests of my parents fell on deaf ears. Shortly after we got married, he was sent off to war. Supposedly he met the true woman of his dreams in the MASH unit and sent me annulment papers. Later on, I found out he only married me to get citizenship so he could become an officer instead of just enlisted and when he found this new woman, he didn't need me anymore. By the end of it, the only thing I had left of him was a child he wanted nothing to do with and a broken heart." Diane's eyes watered at the memory, "After that I put so much determination and focus into making it to the top, I forgot all about love, even the simple kind."

Ellie reached out a hand to rest on Diane's shoulder, "I'm sorry."

She smiled slightly in return. "Don't be. He may have been a chauvinistic asshole," she said with scorn but lightened up as she continued, "but he gave me the greatest gift in my son. It took me a long time to see it that way but I couldn't have imagined my life without ever having had David."

"I'm glad you were able to make amends," Ellie said, smiling warmly. They sat in silence for a few moments before Ellie spoke again, "Just so you know, though, true love- real love . . . isn't like that at all. It's the most . . .," she paused, shaking her head as if looking for the proper word, "spectacular and wondrous thing I've ever experienced and believe you me, I've had my fair share of disappointment in regards to love."

Diane nodded, figuring she was probably talking about the untimely departure of her parents. Ellie wasn't aware that Diane knew of their story. But Diane was interested in what the young woman had to say in regards to it. Another thing to add to the list of something's she shouldn't wonder about, but does anyway. She couldn't seem to keep herself from asking, "What do you mean?"

Ellie deflated some. It was easy to talk about things in broad terms but to bring it down specifically to yourself was quite daunting. But since Diane had shared something, Ellie figured it was only fair that she share something too, "Well, not to go in depth but the short story is my parents left when Chuck and I were very young. My mother physically left first and while my father didn't physically leave for another few years after that, he was emotionally gone once she was gone. He got so absorbed in his work afterward, we may as well not have been there. He tried to make it work, being a single father and both of us helped out as best we could by keeping out of trouble and whatnot. There's not much you can do when you're fourteen or in Chuck's case, ten. But I guess Chuck and I weren't enough to keep him happy and he left. I was seventeen at the time and poor Chuck was only thirteen. So, we just . . . picked up the pieces again and moved on."

Diane looked sorrowfully at Ellie. "I hope this doesn't come across as insensitive but when you say gone do you mean dead?"

"I don't know." Ellie shrugged, "We never had a funeral for either of them if that's what you mean. They could be dead for all we know. We never heard from my mother after she left and the last time we heard from our father was about ten years ago. He used to send Birthday cards and Christmas cards, but that didn't last for very long." Ellie shook her head sadly and swiped away a few tears. She wasn't all out bawling or even crying really, just tearing up, "You know what's even more asinine though? I still want him to give me away at my wedding. Is that not the most absurd thing you've ever heard? I mean, he abandoned us and yet I still want that. It's pathetic."

Diane's motherly side was brought out by sadness etched across Ellie's face, "It's not pathetic. After all, he is your father."

"Yeah, in name alone," she said bitterly. She shook her head in reproach and rethought her statement. As awful as it was without him, she didn't want others to have bad thoughts about him for some reason that was beyond her, so she said, "Although, in his defense, when he was around, he really was a great dad."

"Which just makes it all the more difficult to understand why he left. Remembering the good times makes you wonder how he could leave so easily."

"Exactly." She looked down at her hands in her lap. "Chuck's been trying to find him. He's made a lot of headway but still no cigar. Oh well. We can't always get everything we want and I still get to have the most amazing man as my husband."

A trickle of people leaving the glass room caught their attention, signaling the end of their conversation. Both women stood wordlessly and walked over to the room. Chuck was cleaning up the pile of books he'd read, putting them back on the shelf in alphabetical order and Sarah was helping put away the chairs. "Sarah!" Ellie said in admonishment, "What are you doing? You shouldn't be doing that with your shoulder."

Sarah looked over to see Ellie and, unexpectedly, the General standing just inside the room. The General narrowed her eyes and asked in a measured tone, "What's wrong with your shoulder?"

"Oh, um," Sarah looked down to the gauze covering the wound, her inner panic at the question only covered thanks to years of training, "It's nothing. I'm fine. Just a scratch."

"It's not nothing," Ellie said. She turned to Diane and explained, "She dove in front of a car yesterday to keep Sonia, the little girl whose birthday it was, from getting hit."

The General's brow rose a little, "Oh. I see. That's quite the display of bravery."

Sarah wasn't quite sure how to take the comment, so she just brushed off the incident, "Like I said, it's nothing. Just a scratch." She let out a small laugh, "You worry too much, Ellie."

Ellie huffed, "Tuh, someone has to."

"Really, Ellie, I'm okay. I got a massage and took some aspirin. It'll be fine in a day or so. I heal pretty fast." She decided it would be best to leave out exactly _who_ gave her the massage. That wouldn't be the best road to go down. This conversation was making Sarah more than a little uncomfortable especially since her superior officer was privy to the whole thing.

"Alright, alright," Chuck said coming to her rescue while finishing putting up the last of the chairs, "Let's not dwell. Come on, people. I'm parched after reading all those books." He could easily feel Sarah's discomfort and quite frankly he was also uncomfortable. He picked up Sarah's coat and carried it with him, guiding Sarah out of the room with his other hand on the small of her back, much to the amusement of Ellie and under the watchful eye of the General.

This much was certain in Diane's opinion, had she of had a daughter, she wouldn't mind having someone like Chuck be with her, regardless of how hazardous that opinion was to have. It was clear he had a high respect for the women in and around his life as shown by his actions. To be honest, she was surprised that Sarah has held out for so long, especially when considering the fact that Chuck is entirely different than anyone Sarah has ever known.

***************

Shortly after Trisha had left Eve's room, Dr. Williams made his way to it. He wanted to speak to Eve in private and since he'd seen Dr. Bartowski and her grandmother leave earlier, he figured now was as good as time as any. He never liked having these conversations while the patient was alone. Someone like Eve, though, seemed to be the type who would rather have time to process it alone. And he didn't really want her to have to put on a brave face for anyone. He knocked quietly on the door and pushed it open to see Eve sitting up in bed reading a book. "Hello, Eve."

Eve put the book down on the bedside table, "Hey, Dr. Williams. How's it going?"

Her cheery disposition despite the incredible amount of strain she must be feeling amused him to no end. She had to be his most favorite patient in all his years of practice. "Oh, fine. Fine. How are you?"

Eve laughed off the question, "Well you know . . . the sun still set in the west so that's good. What's up?"

He smiled at her half answer but pressed forward in the conversation, "Well, I was wondering if I could steal a few minutes of your time. There's something I wanted to discuss with you in private."

Eve bit her bottom lip nervously. His tone made her anxious. It was never good when a doctor wanted to speak to you privately. "Ah, sure. Have a seat," she gestured to the stool in the corner where they'd moved it earlier.

He walked over to the stool and pushed it over so he could sit about where her knees rested. He wasn't entirely sure how to start but he felt it was his job to explain his position even if the patient didn't necessarily want to hear it. "Eve, before we start, I just want to say, please don't think I'm trying to change your opinion but I would like for you to consider my point as well."

Eve nodded unsurely but said nothing.

"Okay." He took a few moments, thinking over what he wanted to say and how he wanted to say it. There was never an easy way to go unfortunately so he decided to spill it in the best way he could, "I think that, should the treatment not work, we need to consider the quality of your life over the quantity."

Eve looked confused, "I'm not sure I understand, Doc."

"I'm saying that . . . if things do not go as planned, you should consider how you would like to spend the rest of the time you'd have left. Do you really want to live the rest of your life in a hospital? Wouldn't you rather be at home with your family and being able to do things you want to do?"

Eve looked away from the doctor trying to understand what he was saying as she felt the onslaught of tears forming. Of course she understood the words. It was merely the processing of them that was eluding her. The thought had crossed her mind more often in the past few days than it ever had before and more than she cared to admit now, except she just wasn't willing to accept that this really was the end, "But we just started. How can we actually know for sure it isn't going to work?"

Dr. Williams nodded, "I know we've just begun, and I understand your hesitance to accept any opinion other than winning and while that is commendable, Eve, you need to consider the possibility its not going to happen. Should the treatment not work, we are really out of alternative options aside from donation. And even then, _if_ there is a match found, we also have to consider the state you will be in at that time. Operation may not be a medically viable option."

Eve swiped at a stray tear and took a moment to compose herself but her voice still cracked with emotion as she sniffled and asked, "Wh- when will you decide . . . if it isn't working?"

Dr. Williams looked regretfully at Eve, "I'm pretty much to that point. Your blood tests from this morning are not showing the most promising numbers but I'm willing to give it a few more days before saying anything to your family. And then, however long you want to go after that is what we will do."

Eve's shoulders shook at the revelation as she bowed her head. She really had been feeling better the past couple days but maybe that was just her mind tricking her into feeling that way. She didn't want to give up. It wasn't in her nature but the doctor had a point. You can only beat a dead horse so much.

Dr. Williams rested his hand on her knee hoping to offer some form of comfort, "I'm truly sorry, Eve. I really wanted this to work for you. You don't deserve this. The world needs more people like you in it."

Eve rubbed her faced in her hands, trying desperately to keep her tears from falling. This hadn't been the way she thought the day would go. She didn't want to look up at him, knowing for sure it would break any resolve she had of not crying. She'd been grateful he told her when her mom wasn't around. She can actually deal with it over worrying about her mom. Not that she minded, but this was her life. She shouldn't have to avoid this by worrying over her mother. And if her mother was there, she would most definitely avoid it.

Dr. Williams stood and walked to the door. He gave one last sorrowful look at his despaired patient before leaving. He bowed his head and said, "Please don't let this diminish your spirit. You are one of a kind, Evelyn. I'm so sorry I couldn't be more help." Dr. Williams left the room significantly worse than when he entered it. He kept his head down all the way back to his office, not acknowledging any collogues or others he may have passed.

Eve covered her mouth with her hand, trapping the sob within. She replayed the conversation over and over again in her mind, trying to decide what to do, what to think. All she knew was that the walls were closing in and she felt like she was suffocating. She had to get out of there. Eve threw the covers off of her and stood on shaky legs. She grabbed the IV cart and moved as far away from the room as quickly as possible.

**********

Sarah, Chuck and Ellie made their way to a table after having gotten their food. General Beckman was talking to another woman in the checkout line so the trio decided to find a place to sit. Chuck was balancing his tray in one hand while reaching out with the other to take Sarah's. Ellie wouldn't be happy if he didn't at least offer to take her tray, "Here, Sarah. I can ta-"

Right as he was about to take hold of her tray, a man who hadn't been paying attention to where he was going bumped right into Sarah's shoulder causing her to drop the tray and take in a deep breath. The loud clanking of the silverware caused the cafeteria to silence and turn their attention towards the sound. "Watch where you are going, you stupid cow!" the man bellowed angrily, further silencing the room.

Chuck watched Sarah's eyes ignite with fire as she reached for one of her knives. He quickly put his tray down on the nearest table and grabbed her hand, stepping in the middle. He quietly whispered so only she could hear, "Don't, Sarah."

Sarah pulled her glare away from the man and softened as she looked at Chuck. All of a sudden she realized where she was at and that there was no danger, no threat. They weren't on a mission. They were at the hospital. No one was out to get them. It was just a simple mistake. No reason for violence, even if the man was being rude.

"God! Doesn't anyone pay attention anymore! Dumb fucking blondes! Think they can do anything," he started to rant.

Chuck turned around to the man. He said as calmly as possible, "Excuse me, Sir, that's rather inappropriate. It was an accident. You don't have to call my girlfriend names."

The man looked up and down at Sarah and then at Chuck and laughed, "Oh right, because a guy like you could really get a girl like that. I'd bet she's just some bitchy gold digger, trying to become someone trophy wife and your sorry ass was the one she chose!" He looked over Chuck's shoulder at Sarah, "Whore!"

Sarah returned his glare with venom as she looked at the man, bringing her fist back. She'd been called a lot of things but she harbored a particularly profound distaste for whore. "Hey-"

Chuck moved to Sarah and put her hand down, knowing full well she could and would take him, "Sweetie, I'm sure this gentleman is just having a bad day. He didn't mean it." He dropped his voice as he got in her line of sight, "Relax, Sarah. No violence."

"Look at the pansy. Has to have his girlfriend fight for him." The man scoffed behind him, "Better listen to your '_boyfriend,'_ sweet cheeks."

Chuck clenched his jaw in an effort to maintain his calm composure as he turned to look at the man. "Sir, if you're going to insist on insulting anyone, it'd better be me from here on out," he said pointing to himself. At the blank stare he'd received, Chuck put his hands down and sighed. Obviously this guy just wanted to yell at somebody and start a fight. "Look, I'm really sorry for whatever is going on that's bothering you. I'd just appreciate it if you'd not take it out on my girlfriend, especially when she is none of the things you've called her. What would make it better? How can I help?"

"Why? So you can look good in front of all your friends? Don't think I don't know that stupid Doctor you're with-"

"Alright, that's enough," Chuck said angrily. "I will not tolerate you calling my sister stupid and my girlfriend a whore or any of the other degrading names you have used. Got it? You know what? This is crazy." He slapped his hand against his pocket and pulled out his wallet flipping it open, "Here. This is for the food you dropped. I'm done," he said handing the man a twenty and turning to walk away.

The man was fuming, "Oh, so you are some rich piece of shit? Think you can just throw money at it and it will all go away, huh? Doesn't work that way!"

Chuck turned back to the man again, keeping an even tone, "Sir, clearly you are looking for a fight but I'm not going to be a willing participant and I don't have to listen to your childish name calling." He went to the table and picked up his tray, giving the table occupants and apologetic look as he turned to the women, "Come on, Ladies. Let's find somewhere to sit. Sarah, I will go back and get you another-"

"Then you are just going to have to be an unwilling participant," the man interrupted and yanked Chuck's shoulder back. He struck Chuck with a forceful right hook, making Chuck hunch over with his face between his knees, his food tumbling to the ground.

Sarah, who had moved next to Ellie, took three steps forward, clenching her fingers together before Chuck stood and stopped her, "Its okay. I'm okay."

When Chuck turned to look at the man with blood trickling down his cheek, all the fight in the man left. His eyes widened in shock at what he'd done. Chuck didn't even attempt to swing back, which just made him feel worse. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." As everyone looked on in silence, the man gave Chuck his money back, "Here. I-I'm sorry. I'm really sorry." He walked quickly out of the cafeteria rubbing his forehead. Everyone in the room watched him leave in silence. Once the man was gone, they started talking all at once making it sound once again like a cafeteria.

Chuck brought his hand to his face and turned around toward the girls, "Ow." He felt a warm liquid across the pads of his fingers and sliding down his face. He pulled his hand back and looked at it. At the smeared redness, his face turned a few shade whiter. "Is that," he swallowed, "blood?"

Ellie wetted down a napkin and started wiping his face.

Trisha and Diane stood on the outskirts watching the whole confrontation. Trisha leaned down to Diane and whispered, "So that's your asset?" Diane just raised her brow. Trisha looked back over to the scene. The blonde and Ellie were hovering over the tall man, checking to see if he was okay. "He's a good guy."

"Don't remind me. And how did you know he was an asset?"

"Well, you looked at me the same way when I was an asset. In fact, you still do sometimes." Trisha didn't wait for a response, walking away to join the others.

Diane sighed and followed behind.

"Guys, I'm fine, really." Chuck was saying to the girls as Trisha approached.

"Wow! That was some display. I'm surprised you didn't hit him back."

Chuck turned at the new voice. Upon seeing her face, Chuck's eyes rolled back as he felt the familiar tingle of a flash coming on. What seemed like endless amounts of images passed through his mind. It was the longest flash he'd had in a while and after not flashing for several days, it made his head hurt like hell. Worst of all, Ellie was watching the whole thing. _'Uh oh!'_

Sarah saw the signs of the flash and immediately covered for him, "I think we should get Chuck a chair. He seems a little woozy." She reached out as if she were steadying him making Ellie be the one to leave.

After Ellie left wordlessly to get him a chair, he started going over the images more slowly. As he did so, he learned the woman's name was Trisha Elizabeth Fisher, formerly Prescott. Married to Major David Fisher- son of General Diane Beckman- deceased as of August 2007. He learned about a company called Neuroasis Research and Development (NRAD) that was researching drugs for the nervous system and studying the brain primarily in Afghanistan. He learned that she was a former administrative assistant for the company. After she came across discrepancies, she informed the US Government about her concerns and in so doing made herself an asset. Her handlers were First Lieutenant David Fisher and Captain John Casey. Subsequent images provided Chuck with more information on how Casey got tasked as his handler now. Needless to say, it was not what he had been expecting. He looked up at Sarah in trepidation, "Sarah-"

'_Not here,'_ she lipped. She put her hand on his shoulder, "It's gonna be okay, Chuck."

General Beckman lowered her voice as she asked, "Was that a flash?"

Sarah nodded as Ellie returned. "Take a seat," she said, "I need to check for signs of a concussion. Sarah, will you get some ice, please?"

Sarah didn't have to leave though since a cafeteria worker came out with a steak in one hand and ice in the other. "Here, Dr. B. I'll ring it out for free." He turned his attention to Chuck, "You want us to call security?"

"No. It's fine." He didn't want to cause anymore trouble than necessary.

The employee was resting his hands on his knees looking at Chuck face. He whistled and chuckled, "Dude, you are gonna have one nasty shiner."

Chuck replied sardonically, "Awesome."

Ellie said in a clinical voice," Follow my finger, Chuck." She waved her hand to the left and right and Chuck dutifully followed. She shone a flashlight in his eyes, making sure they still reacted correctly. Everything appeared to be normal. "You're gonna be sore for the next few days." She stood up and retrieved his fallen money from the ground, putting it back in his wallet and then handing that to Sarah. "I'm going to get you guys some food. Could you help me, Trisha?"

"Sure." She put her plate down on the table some nurses had vacated and followed Ellie back to the kitchen.

The asset looked worriedly up at General Beckman, "Does this mean I'm in trouble?"

"No. But we have somewhere to be tonight so you'd better be feeling better."

His shoulders slumped. Of course a vacation would be too good to be true. "Does it have something to do with your daughter in law?"

She narrowed her eyes but then remembered he flashed on Trisha, "No. We have to go to the Governor's Ball."

Sarah had been surprised at the revelation of Beckman's daughter in law. She didn't have to be a spy to know Chuck was talking about the woman that with Ellie, however there were more pressing matters to discuss, "When you say 'we,' do you mean Chuck and I or-"

"I mean the asset and me. You'll have the night off."

"Oh," Sarah said in surprise.

"Great," Chuck said dragging out the syllable, obviously not looking forward to it.

****************

Ethan sat on the bus making his way to work. When Eve had been admitted to the hospital, he'd started taking the bus that came just before his normal one so he could see her first thing. He really liked talking to Eve. It was easy to be around her. She was so . . . fresh. Seems like an odd word to describe a person, stalkerish in a way but there didn't seem a better description. She was facing an uphill battle with all the zest and pizzazz that was needed to see through the dark times. She was the first person since he'd been back that didn't treat him as if he were a walking casualty. Sure he suffered from PTSD once he'd gotten back from the war. Who wouldn't, given the circumstances? But he didn't go crazy. He was still a functioning member of society even if he was different from before he left. Wars change people. The things he'd seen haunt him but he can handle it. Being around Eve though, he truly started to feel like his old self again.

He stepped off the bus, excited for work. Dr. Williams had said that he needed to speak with him once he got in. Ethan wasn't put off by that since they had meetings and stuff all the time. He started walking to the front doors looking around the scenery when a woman walked out pulling an IV cart, catching his attention. She sat exhaustedly on a bench in the front garden, her back facing him. He waited a few moments to see if anyone would come find her. It wouldn't be safe to just let her stay if no one knew that's where she was. As it was, some one should have stopped her from leaving by herself.

When no one came out, Ethan trekked slowly over to her. The closer he got the more familiar the woman became. She looked an awful lot like Eve. _'Where's Mrs. Fisher?'_ he wondered. He stood quietly behind her, deciding if he should check on her. She seemed lost in thought and he didn't feel it his place to interrupt. So he stood there stupidly.

"I know you're there, Ethan," she said quietly.

Her voice shocked him out of his thoughts. He could see her bring up her hand to her face, presumably to wipe away tears. Even though she couldn't see him, he half smiled at her comment, "How did you know?"

Eve bowed her head slightly and offered no response. She didn't really want to talk to anyone but she didn't want to be rude. Granted, ignoring him wasn't exactly unrude. She knew if she struck up a conversation or if he tried to pull her into one that she would avoid the situation. And that's not what she should do right now. It's what she wanted to do but not what she should do.

Ethan slowly walked around to sit next to her. He sat far enough away that she could still be alone but close enough to have someone to talk to if she wanted. "You don't have to say anything. We can sit here as long as you'd like." He wanted to ask her what had happened but he couldn't bring himself to say anything to her. It wasn't like her to simply ignore someone so she must need space but it was still unsafe for her to be out by herself.

Eve nodded, her only acknowledgement he was there. Tears silently fell down her face and she did nothing to stop them. She kept her focus to the ground, missing all the beauty of the garden before her. She pulled her legs up to her chest, wrapping her arms around them and resting her chin against her knees. Her skin pulled a little tight but not to the point that it would tear. Her gaze landed on a honeybee. The bee flitted from flower to flower, minding its own business, doing its own thing. Free.

That's what Eve wanted to do, her own thing. She still had so much left she wanted to accomplish, that she wanted to do. She should start getting realistic though. The end is drawing near much too soon for her liking. She wasn't necessarily afraid of dying or what would happen after. She never pondered much over if there was an afterlife or not. She chose to live her life with kindness and generosity and if there was a God then he will see to it that things will be as they should.

Dr. Williams had a point. She doesn't want to spend the rest of her life in a hospital bed, but she doesn't want to die yeteither. Not when there was so much life left to live. Not when she felt she had so much left to give. Technically, depending on how much time she would have left, she could do most of the things she wanted to. But then she wondered what she would really want to do with a shorter time frame because she hadn't thought about that much either. Her thoughts have been to dreams beyond cancer, not within the confines of it. Eve furrowed her brow and asked, "Ethan, if someone told you, you were going to die, what would you do?" She never turned to look at him, instead staying focused on the bee.

"Hmm, well," he said as he leaned forward on his knees, "no one's ever really asked me that before. I guess I would do things I wanted to and spend time with my family."

"Right but . . . what kind of things would you do?"

He shrugged his shoulder and spun a response, "I don't know. I've never really thought about it. Maybe something adventurous, something fun. Like base jumping or sky diving without going into a war zone. Maybe spend a day at the beach and all the amusement parks I could get to. I'd probably read all the books I put off reading. Luckily I don't really have anything I need to make amends for but I would make sure all the people I loved knew it. Truthfully though, I've done a lot of adventurous things in my life so most of the time I would want to spend with my family."

"That sounds nice," she said solemnly, not expanding her query any further. She started fiddling with her toes, realizing she came out without any shoes. The bottoms of her feet were starting to turn black from the dirty floors.

Ethan adjusted himself so one leg rested on the chair making it easier to look at her. "I know you don't like this question, but are you okay?"

Eve licked her lips and shut her eyes tightly, "I don't know." It was the first honest answer she'd given to that question in a long time, "I don't know what to think, I don't know what to feel, or . . . how to feel . . ."

He let her words rest for a moment, thinking about what to say. By now, he'd figured out what Dr. Williams wanted to talk to him about. Dr. Williams told Eve that things weren't progressing. She was at a stalemate. "You know, when I was in Iraq, the head of my unit used to give a pep talk before going into battle. Of course, only if we had the time. There were lots of surprises over there. He would tell us this quote by David Sarnoff, 'We cannot banish dangers, but we can banish fears. We must not demean life by standing in awe of death.' He'd say, 'You must live without fear boys. The only thing certain about life is death.' It's true though. Every day there was a possibility of it all ending."

"Sounds like a winning guy."

"He was," he said looking down. He switched to a joking tone as he said, "No one retreated so it must have worked." Eve smiled a little at that but remained silent. "In all seriousness though, he was a great leader. But my question is, Eve, are you continuing with this treatment because you want to live or because you're afraid of dying?"

"I'm not afraid of dying."

"But you are, Eve." As she opened her mouth to protest, he pressed forward, "Let me ask you this, have you lived a fulfilled life?"

"I guess. I mean, I hope so."

Ethan waived his hand with each statement, "No guessing. No hoping. Just yes or no."

Eve thought for a moment before responding, "Well, it didn't start out great but I'd have to say yes."

"Do you feel you've done the best you can while on this Earth and you'd be leaving it a better place than when you entered it?"

"Yes, but I'm not- I'm not ready to leave it. I-I can't leave my mother. She needs me-"

"No," Ethan interrupted, shaking his head, "No, Eve. This isn't about what your mother needs, or your grandmother, or me. We don't matter. This is about you. You matter. I get the idea Dr. Williams told you his thoughts and they don't coincide with yours. Right?" When she slowly nodded her head in the affirmative, he continued, "Okay. So, ask yourself, how much fight do you have left? If you are completely honest with yourself, do you see yourself alive in ten years? Twenty years down the road? You're a giver and I get that, okay. But don't make yourself suffer because of what you think everyone else needs. If you spend all your time worrying about everyone else, you're never going to be satisfied with the outcome, and you'll have wasted what time you do have. Time is the one thing you can never get back. It's the one thing that should never be wasted."

Eve pulled her shoulders to her ears, "So I'm just supposed to erase my entire personality-"

"No. I didn't say that. I'm saying you need to give yourself _permission_ to be selfish."

"So you want me to die?" she asked indignantly. "You want me to want to die?"

"No, Eve. I don't want you to die," he said swallowing a lump in his throat at the thought, "I really, really don't want you to die. I want you to be selfish so you can have what you want."

Eve took a moment to calm her agitation, looking down to her interlinked fingers, thinking over what he was trying to tell her. It definitely wasn't that he wanted her to die. _'That was a stupid thing to accuse him of, Eve.' _He just wanted her to do what she wanted, what she thought was best for _her_ even if that was letting go. More to herself than Ethan, she said quietly and with uncertainty, "But I want to live." She paused and thought over her words. They exited her mouth without any conviction. "At least . . . I'm pretty sure I do."

"Pretty sure isn't the same as convinced." Ethan linked his hand together, resting one elbow on the back of the bench and sighed, "Just think it over. You don't even have to decide now." Ethan and Eve fell silent, neither quite knowing what to say. Fifteen minutes passed. He could see she was getting fatigued and also that she wasn't ready to go back inside yet. He wordlessly slid closer to her and hand her a water bottle out of his bag. She took a sip and spun the cap back on, handing the bottle back to him. They sat side by side a few moments longer before Eve rested her head on his shoulder. Ethan gently moved his arm around her shoulder, careful of her burns. He put his hand over hers in her lap and kissed the top of her head comfortingly.

*******************************

Well that's all for now. Let me know what you think. Promise next chapter has tons o Casey.


	15. Chapter 15

A/N: Alrighty peeps. After some deliberation with Bill, the reception part will interspersed with the ball next chapter. I hope you guys like my version of Casey. I'm pretty nervous . . .

On a different note, I'm touched by the response about Eve. It's kind of like she's my baby (granted a baby that's older than me, but she's fictional so that doesn't have to make sense =D) and I'm pleased with how well she is being received. It's not going to change the plan or anything but its cool that you guys like her and are pulling for her to win.

Chapter Fifteen

Casey carried the bucket of cleaning supplies and put it away in the hall closet. The next order of business was to put a load of laundry in and then take a shower. He started up the washer and put detergent in it before heading up the stairs to his room. He separated his whites from his colors and took the colors with him to the washer. He checked the pockets of his pant to be sure there wasn't anything in them and what change he found was put in a jar on the shelf above the washer. The items of clothing were dropped in one at a time to ensure the washer remained balanced. He closed the lid and put the hamper on top of the dryer.

He made his way to the bathroom, shedding his shirt and pants to put into a different hamper in the bathroom. He put the old set of towels in the hamper as well and grabbed new ones from the cupboard. After they'd been neatly hung, he caught a glance at himself in the mirror. He rolled his eyes and grunted at the sight of stubble on his face, knowing he'd have to shave for the wedding. Normally he'd let it go on a Saturday but he couldn't for this one. He put the things he needed to shave on the counter. The razor rested perpendicular to the edge next to his can of shaving cream.

He shaved and took a military length shower before finding himself standing in front of the mirror again, boxer shorts replaced by a towel. He stared at his reflection for a moment, thinking. He grunted and shook his head, _'Alright, Johnny Boy, if you are gonna do this, you are gonna do it right.'_ He sniffled smugly while loosening up his arms and cracking his neck. He slapped on some aftershave then pulled gel out of the medicine cabinet and ran a dollop through his hair. Casey liked having short hair since it meant he didn't exactly have to do it but on account of going to a wedding, it would probably be a good idea to try something.

Walking into the bedroom, he turned on his record player, selecting a Neil Diamond album. Solitary Man wafted through the atmosphere:

_Don't know that I will  
But until I can find me  
A girl who'll stay  
And wont play games behind me  
I'll be what I am  
A solitary man  
Solitary man_

He padded over to the dresser and grabbed a pair of boxers and then went to the closet. His fingers dragged along the shoulders of his suit collection before landing on a Calvin Klein Navy Pinstripe suit. He grabbed a light blue button up and laid the items carefully on the bed. From the hall closet he grabbed his ironing board and went to work straightening the clothing.

The song changed to You Got to Me when he was about halfway through the ironing. He bopped his head to the beat and lipped the words:

_Mama told me that someday it would happen  
But she never said that it would happen like this  
Papa said, "Look out, some girl'll catch you nappin'  
Some little girl will get to you with her kiss"_

_You got to me  
You brought me to my knees  
Never thought I'd say please, girl  
You got to my soul  
You got control  
You got to me, you got to be mine_

Luckily it didn't take too much longer to finish ironing since his clothes were basically wrinkle free when they were hung. He put on an undershirt and then his button up shirt over top, buttoning from bottom to top. He slipped on his pants and strategically tucked in his shirt, pulling it out slightly at the bottom so his shoulders could move.

The song changed once again to the Long Way Home. The leather belt was deftly put into place. Bare feet were replaced with socks and freshly polished shoes. He strapped a gun to the inside of his left calf. After choosing a navy and light blue, diagonally striped tie with a much smaller silver stripe between the two colors, he folded it into precise fourths and tucked it into his coat pocket, patting it twice. He stood in front of the full length mirror examining his reflection for any faults. _'Damn if I don't look good,' _he thought with a smirk.

Casey set the record to auto stop after the song ended. He grabbed his wallet, keys, and cell, placing each item in their usual pockets. He put on his father's old silver wrist watch. Looking down at the time, it read eleven o seven. He grunted at the time lapse, _'Great. Now I have to drive like Walker to get there on time.'_ The stairs were descended three at a time. The alarm was armed, the door was locked and he casually made his way to the parking lot as the last lyrics to the song played out.

_Girl I took  
The long way home, it's true,  
The long way home to you, yeah  
And I just want to say,  
I'm home to stay.  
Stay,_

_I'm home to stay  
Been a long way, long way home  
Long way home, long way home_

*********

Casey knocked on Grace's door at eleven thirty on the dot. It was about an hours drive to the garden but it would probably take longer with the traffic. Grace had already been up and back once today.

She opened the door quickly, the door cutting through the air caused her hair to fly back. "Hi, John," she said with a smile.

He nodded, "Hello."

Grace opened the door wider to allow him to enter, "Come on in. I just need to finish up packing the food."

She had already started walking back to the kitchen, so Casey shut the door and slowly followed her into the kitchen. It gave him a good chance to look around her place. He had waited in the car the first time. The living room was neat and tidy. The magazines on the coffee table were stacked cleanly with the remote control resting on top. There wasn't much dust, if any, that he could see. On the end table sat a worn copy of Shakespeare's play Much Ado about Nothing, bookmarked about three-fourths of the way through. She had pictures around the room of who he presumed were family members and friends. The sliding glass door opened to a patio with a simple set of chairs and small matching table. Her kitchen was just as clean as the rest of the house. The pans were organized from biggest to smallest hanging on a rack above the stove. The counters were free of clutter, save for the one being used by the picnic basket and items to go in it. It was obvious she lived alone. There was no way you could get two people exactly the same under one roof.

"Did you want a drink or anything before we go? Traffic is kind of a mess today."

He nodded, "A glass of water would be nice." It'd give him a chance to see what her cupboards looked like. She might have just cleaned up because he was coming. When she opened it, though, everything was in neat rows.

"Would you like ice?" she asked as she grabbed two glasses down.

He grunted. Grace smiled and dropped a couple cubes in the glass. It was getting easier to read his grunts. She figured it must be how he converses. He never did strike her as much of a talker. Which was probably why all the other waitresses failed to get to know him. They tried to flirt with him but you could tell he would have none of it.

As she twirled back to the fridge, Casey took a moment to really look at her. She was wearing a forest green silky dress that fell just above her knee and flowed around her legs as she gracefully navigated her kitchen. He thought it nicely accentuated her eyes. Her makeup was done enough to highlight her features but not be overbearing. Her hair was pulled back in a half up half down fashion with a soft waive of curls and tendrils hanging around her face. He liked that she had an even tan on her arms and legs. She wore white flip flops that showed off her neatly pedicured feet. "You look . . . very pretty," he said shyly. Normally he was the take charge kind of guy but when it came to women, he found himself to be more reserved than usual.

A smile grew across Grace's face as she handed him the drink, realizing just how nervous he was. Blush crept up her cheeks as the compliment fully registered with her. She matched his shyness almost perfectly as she said, "Thank you." She took a moment to look him over. He was wearing his pinstriped suit pants and light blue shirt. Both were without wrinkles aside from what you get from sitting. The clothes looked as if they were tailored just for him. His hair was done more neatly than usual, not that it ever looked bad. It was just different. "You're very handsome." She looked down, embarrassed. Their statements weren't exactly the same thing. He said 'look' and she didn't implying a whole different meaning. She tried to think of something to clear the awkward air when a glint flashed her eye. "Did you polish your shoes?" she asked with a knit brow.

He grunted with a small smile on his face. He didn't know why he was so nervous. It had been quite sometime since his last date but this was ridiculous. He ran into gun battles with much more gusto than this. Of course, gun battles were normal for him- except recently- and dates were not. It must have something to do with _how_ he'd agreed to the date.

Grace's eyes lit up playfully, "You did polish your shoes! That's awesome!"

John cleared his throat and put the empty glass down, changing the subject, "Shall we go?"

"Let's," she said putting the glasses in the sink and then grabbed the food. She also picked up the bag next to the door that had her high heels for the wedding. She didn't wear them often, preferring casual shoes normally, but it was a special occasion. "Oh, should I grab a blanket?"

"I've got one in the car," he said, holding the door open for her. "I can take the basket."

She passed him without giving up the basket, smiling up at him, "I've got it, thanks."

He grunted while shutting the door and followed her down the stairs. It was nice to be around a woman who didn't mind carrying the load. He caught up next to her and walked side by side with her to the Crown Vic in amiable silence. As they reached the car, he opened the passenger door for her while she put the basket in the backseat. The car drive was made with small talk about nothing in particular. At a moment of lull, Grace started fidgeting in her seat at whatever it was she started thinking about. "Is something wrong?"

Grace looked up nervously, "No . . . well yes . . . It-it's stupid. Never mind."

"What?"

Grace's cheeks turned red, "I just keep thinking about . . . the dishes." She brought her hand up to cover her eyes. Surely he would laugh at her. "I didn't put them in the dishwasher. I always put them in the dishwasher. And now I'm dwelling."

To her utmost surprise, he didn't laugh or anything, just offered a solution. "We can go back."

Her hand dropped as her eyes flew over to him, shocked. "I- that's not necessary, but thanks." She laughed with a shrug, "My family tells me I need to lighten up about those things anyway. Really, though, is it so wrong to like having a process for things? They seem to think it inhibits my life or something."

"There's nothing wrong with organization."

"Exactly. I mean, so what if I have a routine. It's comfortable. It's known."

"Exactly."

A more relaxed silence hung in the atmosphere. Casey had Neil Diamond playing quietly in the background. He didn't know what kind of music she would like and Diamond was always a safe bet. Every so often he could hear her quietly sing along with the words. Being a choir boy himself, he hummed along as well. Grace had forgotten her sunglasses so most of the time her eyes were directed at her lap or squinted as she looked out the window. It was a nice day. The sun was shinning and a soft breeze kept if from being unbearably hot.

John noticed her squinting periodically throughout the drive. Walker had left a pair in the Vic after a mission so he figured he'd let Grace borrow them. "There's an extra pair of sunglasses in the glove box if you'd like some."

"Oh, thanks," Grace said, tentatively reaching out her hand to the compartment in the dash. They weren't what she was expecting. These were rather feminine in contrast to such a masculine man. Either he had poor taste in sunglasses for himself or he was a boy scout. The former couldn't really be possible since he had on sunglasses that looked as though they were made specifically for him so it had to be the later, "Wow! Women's glasses. You Government types really do think of everything."

John chuckled, "No . . . well yes but my co-workers girlfriend left them in here when I gave them a ride home."

Grace nodded as she jested him, "Co-workers girlfriend, huh?"

He nodded at her playfulness. She really was quite the girl. Competitive, smart, attractive, disarmingly charming. He was going to have to watch his back with this one. They pulled into the parking lot of the gardens, easily finding a parking spot. They gathered their things for the picnic. She left her extra shoes and he left his coat and tie. They'd have to come back before the ceremony anyway to put the basket and blanket away. He followed her along the path that led up to a small hill overlooking the man made pond. There were rows and rows of color as far as the eye can see. The view was magnificent.

"This is my favorite spot here. My grandmother used to bring me to this spot all the time when I was a little girl." She looked over to John shyly, "I must say, the view has gotten remarkably better. There weren't as many flowers before."

"It is a nice view." They stood silently, listening to the wind blow softly through the trees. To the right there was an open field where you could hear the laughter of children as they ran amuck. Paddleboats were scattered across the pond and people threw bread out to the ducks. Casey wordlessly unfolded the blanket and laid it out in front of them. He knelt to the ground and straightened out the corners.

Grace knelt next to him and helped with the corners closest to her. She opened the basket and pulled out plastic containers filled with fruit and vegetables. She had two sandwich sized ones with peanut butter and jelly. "I hope you don't mind peanut butter and jelly. I didn't want to use something that needed mayo since that goes bad in the heat."

"It's fine." He looked over the different containers deciding what to go with first. It was all healthy food to choose from. "You sure like your fruits and veggies."

"Yep," Grace laughed, "Very little prep needed. Bag it and go. It's fantastic."

He couldn't argue with that logic so he chose a fruit container to open and grabbed a grape. He threw the treat into the air, easily catching it in his mouth.

Grace smiled, "Nice."

"Thanks," he said, smiling back. He ate another grape and said, "I never miss."

"Oh reeally?" she asked, an idea springing to mind.

"Ummhmm," he said popping another grape in his mouth.

She glanced coyly over to him, fingering her package of vegetables. "And what if I were the one who were to be doing the throwing?"

He shrugged his shoulder nonchalantly.

"Okay, Major Casey-"

"Actually its Colonel now," he interrupted softly, inwardly surprised that he'd done so. She'd been the first person he told himself. It was an observation that had to hold some form of significance. Beckman had told the others and he hadn't even told Walker or Bartowski yet although he was certain they already knew since Ellie did. He really should touch base with Walker. Make sure she didn't want a day off Bartowski duty. They were struggling enough before and he didn't want to think about it now.

Grace's eyes sparkled in admiration, "Really? That's awesome! When did that happen?"

"A few days ago."

"Way to go, John! What did you do to celebrate?" He grunted and shrugged. "Oh, John, tell me you did something?" When he repeated the gesture, she shook her head, "John! That's a real accomplishment. You have to celebrate these things."

John shook his head, "You sound like Ellie."

"Who's Ellie?"

"My neighbor. She's a doctor at the hospital Eve's at. She came in when General Beckman was telling Trish and Eve."

"What?" Grace said at yet another revelation, "Diane is a General? That's crazy!" She paused and thought over her meeting with her for a second, "And yet that doesn't surprise me at the same time. She'd do well in a position like that. She's that kind of woman."

John nodded in agreement but kept the conversation off her, "Ellie insisted on having a dinner for it."

"That's great," Grace nodded, giving no indication as to whether she wanted to be invited or not.

"Would . . ." he paused. He was having a good time with her. He wanted to ask her to come but he wasn't sure. Would it really be so bad for him to have companionship other than work related? This assignment had gone on for _two years_ now and who knows how much time they had left on it. Grace was the first person he met here that he hasn't felt like throwing through a wall and the first person he really felt like getting to know in a long time. He was torn. He rolled his eyes and decided to go for it, ". . . would you like to come? Its tomorrow night. She usually puts together a dinner on Sundays but I didn't want it to be a big deal so it'll be for both."

Grace smiled shyly, "I'd like that."

"You're sure? You don't have to do me any favors."

"No, John. I want to. Promise." She opened her container that had baby tomatoes in it and slyly went back to their previous conversation. She shook her hand with the tomato in it and said, "So if I were to throw this tomato at you, you'd be able to catch it with your mouth?"

John caught on to her game, quirking his eyebrow at her.

***************

Sarah drove Chuck back home. _Home_. The thought caused her to smile and gave her a warm and euphoric feeling, a feeling of belonging. The kind of feeling she'd been missing out on her whole life. Chuck seemed to be focused on _theirs_ where as she found _home_ to be just as appealing because she knew, some where deep down within her, even if she hadn't consciously realized it yet, that _home_ meant Chuck. She pushed open the door letting him go through first. "How's your head feeling?"

"Like it's stuck in a vise," he said rubbing his temples, "I am so not looking forward to an evening alone with the General, especially when I have a pounding headache. It's almost as bad as the first time I flashed."

Sarah expression changed to a more sorrowful concern. She had no idea what a flash felt like and to have one so soon after getting hit must not be the greatest experience. "What does a flash feel like?" she asked as she walked into the kitchen to grab him a glass of water, some ice, and aspirin.

"It's like . . ." Chuck began as he laid down on the couch and looked over to her, considering her question, "I don't know how to explain it, Sarah," he rolled his head to look at the ceiling, trying to find the words, "It hurts but not unbearably so once you get used to it. It sort of becomes a small headache after a while, like you've been studying too hard or something. It's a constant feeling of having too much information forced in your head in a small amount of time. Kind of like the first term of school, only on repeat day in and day out but worse."

Sarah nodded. She walked over to the coffee table and sat on it, sticking out her hand with the water and medicine, "Here."

Chuck sat up a little to take the items from her, "Thanks." He dropped the pills into his mouth and took a sip of water. He settled himself back onto the couch, holding the glass in one hand over his stomach and throwing the other over his forehead as he let out a sigh.

Sarah watched him for a few moments before moving down from the table onto her knees. She took a moment to look at his cheek. It was hard to see with his arm in the way but she could see enough. He had a small gash at the bone and it swelled a little around it. It was starting to turn a greenish-yellow color which meant it was a deep bruise. A bruise that she felt responsible for. She wasn't supposed to let her asset get hurt. She looked at the ice in her hand and scooted across the floor an inch closer to his head. She raised her arm and gently put the ice over his cheek. He let out a small hiss of pain and Sarah grimaced, "Sorry."

He removed his arm and rested his hand over the one of hers that was holding the ice. "Its okay," he said softly, taking in her expression of distaste.

She took her other hand and brushed an arrant curl out of his face, trailing her hand down his cheek. "You defended me." It's not that she thought he couldn't or wouldn't defend her. What surprised her most was how little she cared. She was always one to defend herself and never wanted anyone to do it for her but he stepped up even knowing full well that she could manage and take care of herself. And she didn't mind, which befuddled to her to no end.

"I guess I did." Chuck blushed a little under her stare. Her even tone made it hard to decipher if she was upset or not, "Sorry if that makes you mad?" It came out as more of a question than anything else.

Sarah smiled softly with a shake of her head and looked in his eyes. "I'm not mad," she said, continuing to smooth the already fixed curl.

"Really?" he said in disbelief. "I thought for sure I was a goner."

She chuckled, "Believe me I'm just as surprised as you are."

Sarah was still caressing the side of his face. Chuck knew he should ask her to stop or make her aware of her continued action but he couldn't find the words and he didn't want her to stop anyway. It was nice having this feeling of comfort only she could generate though he doubted if she even realized she was still doing it. He swallowed and licked his lips nervously.

Sarah copied. She so very much wanted to kiss him right now, it was unbelievable. Realizing the position they were in, what she was still doing, she turned away from him and dropped her hands. She took a steadying breath to regain her resolve before looking up at him once again. "Ah, why don't you get some rest? You have a big night ahead of you," she said standing to leave.

"Yeah, a big night," he echoed quietly as he watched her leave.

It was getting harder and harder for her to resist temptation. She rubbed her hand against her forehead as she went down the hallway. _'What are you thinking, Walker?! Do you want to get yourself reassigned?'_ She went into the bedroom and violently pulled open a dresser drawer. She pulled out some gym clothes and roughly changed into them before slamming the drawer shut as quietly as she could. _'Chuck was sleeping after all.'_ She shook her head at the thought and herded herself out of the room, going to her personal space in the apartment. The room that was all hers, where Chuck would never go unless asked. _'God! Stop thinking about him!'_ She jammed her hand into her gloves and swung mercilessly at the bag as if it were the cause of all her problems. Strike after strike, blow after blow. She finally found a steady rhythm of mindless punching driving all thoughts of everything from her mind.

*************

Grace and John had a pleasant meal. As the time to the ceremony drew nearer, they started to see people walking across the lower lawn. It was about twenty minutes until the ceremony so they decided to pack up the picnic. John gathered the used utensils and put them neatly into the basket while Grace folded the blanket.

As they meandered their way back to the car, Grace said, "So, you're sure you're okay with meeting my family? We can still bail if you want."

John shrugged, "I know I'll like at least one person there. Are you sure you want them to meet me? I'm not much of a people person. I like keeping to myself."

Grace shrugged, "I don't care. Personally, I'd enjoy seeing you ruffle a few collars. But they kind of already like you."

John grumbled, "Great. Now there are expectations."

Grace laughed and glanced at him, "Well you did buy me a plane ticket _and_ a rental car while I was in San Francisco." She turned her gaze downward her mood turning a bit somber, "Thanks for that too, by the way. I didn't really get to say thank you before I left."

John grunted in a 'you're welcome' sort of fashion and changed the subject as they approached the car. He dangled his car keys from his fingers and said, "We can still bail if you wanna do those dishes."

"Oh, now you tease me for it," Grace said lightheartedly. "If I recall, you agreed with me, ya big lug."

John smiled as she shoved his shoulder playfully. He popped the trunk and put the basket in, then took the blanket from Grace and put it next to the basket. Grace slipped into her heels and John put on his tie and coat. They walked together toward the hill. Grace was taking cautious steps and John matched her pace. She was in a deep focus and she had a slight hint of worry at the approaching hill. "Is everything alright?" he asked.

"Huh?" Grace said looking over to him, "Oh, fine." She lowered her voice to a whisper like she was sharing a secret, "I'm fairly clumsy so I'm concentrating on not biffing it."

John hummed in acknowledgement and wordlessly extended his hand out to her. Grace smiled appreciatively as she grasped the offered hand. They carefully began their ascent of the hill. Grace felt herself slipping a few times but she never managed a fall as John was there every step of the way. When they reached the top, she squinted up at him about to say 'thank you' but he stole her chance as he said, "Did you forget the sunglasses?"

"Oh, right," Grace said bringing her hands to her head, thinking they were resting atop it. When she patted around and found none she said sheepishly, "Yes. Apparently I am also a forgetful klutz. That's okay." John turned and headed back down the hill before she could think of protesting. His long and powerful legs moved him swiftly down the hillside. When he was about halfway down Grace caught up to his actions, "Seriously, John, you don't have to get them."

John turned to face her as he reached the bottom. His eyebrows rose above the rims of his glasses as he said, "I'll be right back." Without another word, he went off toward the car.

Grace watched him leave, patiently awaiting his return. The sound of complaints reached her ears, drawing her attention away from John. "Whose bright idea was it to have a wedding ceremony at the top of a mountain?" the woman's voice asked. She struggled to find her footing as she neared the top, almost toppling over. "Of all the choices."

Grace rolled her eyes. Aunt Gertrude. _'Always a delight,'_ she thought sarcastically. She took off her shoes and made her way barefoot to her aunt. "Here, Aunt Gertrude. Let me help you," she said holding out her hand. Gertrude gave all her weight to Grace as she relied only on the younger woman to make it to the top. The weightiest addition with no assistance almost caused both women to fall, but fortunately Grace had taken off her shoes and was able to get her bearings to pull the old woman up. Unfortunately, the ground on this side was mushy and muddy. While Gertrude adjusted herself at the top, Grace grabbed her shoes and walked to a more dry area of the grass. She began scuffing her feet to get the mud off. Gertrude scoffed, "You know if you'd act more like a girl, maybe one day _you_ could be the one getting married."

Grace never stopped cleaning her feet as she responded with sweet disinterest, "Well, then, it's a good thing I think marriage is archaic."

She sighed agitatedly, "Or at least even a boyfriend. It's been what? Ten years since the last one? Honestly, we'd settle for a date at this point."

Grace let out a breath while putting her shoes on, keeping her tone as before, "I don't need a boyfriend." She didn't say anything about John since Gertrude was a collar she didn't mind ruffled.

Gertrude muttered something about the disrespect of youth these days as she walked toward the ceremony. Grace folded her arms and smiled at Gertrude's retreating form feeling keenly pleased while she awaited John's return.

"You shouldn't provoke her like that, Grace."

Grace turned at the new voice, "Mary-Beth." She smiled largely at her cousin as they embraced in a hug. "I'm sure I shouldn't but it's far too easy and fun to pass up."

MB laughed as they let go, "You're such a hellion, Cousin."

Grace shrugged indifferently, "I know."

MB started to pass her to go to the wedding, expecting Grace to follow. She turned around curiously, "Aren't you coming?"

"Oh, yeah, in a minute. I'm just waiting for someone."

MB narrowed her eyes, "This isn't one of those airport moments, is it?"

Grace's brow wrinkled in confusion, "Airport moment? What?"

"You know, the 'Someday my ship will come but with my luck I'll be at the airport,' moments."

Grace laughed, "No. It's not that. I'm really waiting for someone."

"Right and I've been to the moon."

"Seriously, MB," Grace said looking down the hill to see John making his way back. She pointed, "See?"

"Ahh, what? The perpetual relationship avoider brought a date? No way . . ." MB trailed off as she saw who Grace was talking about. Her eyes widened and her jaw opened slightly, "A _hot_ date. How did you meet him?"

"You remember that guy I told you about?"

MB scrunched her face, "The one who got you to San Fran for Grannies funeral?"

"Yep, that would be the one."

As the dots connected, MB went to her previously astonished expression, "_That's_ him?" She turned back toward the unidentified stranger as he easily made his way up the hill. "Honey, he could buy me a plane ticket anywhere and I'd go."

Grace chuckled once and shook her head. John made his way to the women. He silently handed Grace the glasses and she smiled as she unfolded them. "Thanks," she said sliding them onto her face. "John, this is my cousin, Mary-Beth. MB, this is John."

John grunted as he nodded to her.

MB smiled. If Grace was ready to dip her feet back into the dating pool, this John man was certainly not a bad way to start. "Shall we?"

John extended his elbows to both women to escort them in.

*****************

Chuck awoke to the sound of a knock on the front door. His eyes opened groggily. The headache was much less severe at this point and he knew Sarah had been right about needing rest.

Sarah ran from her room at the sound of the knock, passing Chuck without realizing the noise had already awoken him. She was still in her workout clothes and her skin glistened with sweat. She opened the door to a teenaged delivery man whose eyes just about popped out of his head.

"Guh . . ." The clipboard and the suit cover dropped to his sides as his mouth dropped open.

Sarah looked curiously at the inarticulate teenager. "Can I help you?"

"Ah . . . right, sorry." The boy blushed profusely, "Um, I have a delivery for a Chuck Bartowski."

Sarah bit back a smile at hearing his name, "He's asleep. Can I sign for it?" She gave her little smile that would make grown men fall to their knees and beg her to let them give her anything she wanted.

If at all possible, the boy turned a darker shade of red at the act. He smiled bashfully and lifted the clipboard to her, "Sure."

She signed quickly and took the suit cover from the boy, "Thanks." She gave him a smile and closed the door. As she turned around looking to the suit cover, deciding if she really wanted to get a glimpse of the tux before he wore it, she almost ran into Chuck.

"Is that for me?"

Sarah's pupils dilated at his proximity, the only indication she'd been startled other than the slight step she took back at his height. "Ah, yeah." She looked between the suit cover and Chuck before handing it over to him. All the thoughts she'd driven away for the past hour ran straight back through her mind when his hand accidentally grazed hers as the suit cover passed in possession from one to the other. Sarah looked to the ground and then the wall, anywhere but at Chuck, "Um, I'm gonna shower." She passed him without so much as a second glance. The door to the master bedroom was shut hard but not slammed.

Chuck furrowed his brow in confusion as he watched her retreat. There was no other way to describe her actions other than retreating. He tightened his lips regretfully and walked toward the 'guest' bathroom. He should probably get cleaned up too so he could talk to Sarah before he left. He had to leave in forty five minutes with the General. Hopefully Sarah won't hide. He hung the suit cover on the back of the door. Chuck looked up at himself in the mirror. His eyes widened and his mouth fell open as he grumbled in distaste, "Ahhh. The first time I get a black eye and it's the week of my sister's wedding. How's that for Karma?"

He shook his head and removed his clothes. Getting the temperature just right, he stepped under the spray. His washing was finished in a few minutes but now he was just milking it. Everything was going fine until the water turned scorching hot. Chuck screamed and turned the water off, stepping out as quickly he could. He grabbed the towel and wrapped it around his waist just in the nick of time as Sarah swung the door open, gun at the ready.

"Chuck!" she yelled pointing the gun towards the window. Realizing it wasn't open, she lowered the weapon and looked at him in full on agent mode, "What happened?"

"Did you turn on some water? Flush a toilet? Anything?"

Sarah nodded and Chuck laughed realizing what happened. They hadn't tried that since they'd moved in. Sarah still hadn't quite caught up, "What's so funny?"

"Our water temperature in the shower changes to scalding when toilets flush. No big deal but I wasn't expecting that."

Sarah laughed as agent mode slipped away at the explanation. Her eyes dropped to his chest taking note of the red marked skin caused by the hot water. Which was still wet. Which was still something she greatly desired to see . . . and touch. Which did nothing to help her predicament.

Chuck watched Sarah's eyes light up as she laughed. And then he saw the she too was in only a towel, her wet hair held back in a clip and a gun dangling in her hand. She was the most stunning thing he'd ever seen. The perfect mix of strength and beauty.

As they both remembered the current state of dress, Chuck crossed his arms as casually as possible and Sarah checked her knot holding the towel in place. They made eye contact and the tension in the room skyrocketed. Despite any thoughts to the contrary, both of them leaned forward, maintaining the connection with their eyes. Just as they were both about to reach out to the other, Sarah's phone rang, causing her to look behind her. _'Damn phone,'_ they thought even if they knew it couldn't have come at a better time.

She looked back to Chuck, neither hiding their disappointment at the lost moment. "I should get that," she said awkwardly.

"Right. Right . . . I should- I have to . . ." he gestured towards the suit cover, "yeah."

Sarah nodded and went back to her room. _'Well that was close.'_ She picked up the phone to see it was Ellie and that she'd only sent a text message asking how Chuck was and if she wanted to have dinner.

She sent a message back saying that he was fine and that dinner would be great. She started to get dressed and ready. No more than five minutes later she received another text from Ellie canceling the plans for dinner. Apparently there was a huge gang fight and the wounded were going to her hospital.

Sarah sent a frown and said, '_next time?_' although she was grateful to get a night to herself. She changed into shorts for bed deciding she wouldn't go out tonight. _'I can watch those videos I took. I have to make sure I'm not on the Julliard one. He obviously saw me there.'_ She went into the kitchen and pulled out the first aide kit to tend to her shoulder. She'd just put the antibiotic ointment on and was struggling with opening the bandaide when Chuck came out. _'I should have done that first.'_

He rushed to her assistance, "Here, let me help." He delicately maneuvered the bandaide out of its package and gently put it over the cut. "There," he said with a smile at his handy work.

"Thanks." Sarah looked at her arm and then smiled up at him. Her smile fell to a grimace as she brushed her fingers under his cut. "We should probably get you cleaned up too."

"Yeah," he said while Sarah looked through the first aide kit for the needed supplies. "What a pair we make, huh?"

Sarah smiled and gently dabbed ointment on his cheek. "Do you want some cover up?"

"Is it that bad?"

"Well, it's not good."

Chuck shook his head, "It's just my luck that the first time I get a black eye is the same week of my sister's wedding."

Sarah giggled and cleaned up their mess, "Just grow a beard and no one will be any wiser."

"Ah ha, ha. You think you're so funny."

Sarah slid onto the counter with a smile. She took a moment to look at Chuck in his suit. He wasn't all the way put together. The only thing missing was the tie and coat and shoes. But damn if he didn't look _good. _His hair was done similarly to how it was on their first date though it was quite a bit longer now and this tux fit him perfectly.

"Well, I'm going to finish getting ready." He turned on the ball of his foot and walked out. He grabbed the bottom of his cuff and shoved his arm into his coat, repeating the process. The tie hung undone around his neck as he made his way out to the front, shoes in hand. He sat on a bar stool and put his shoes on. His focus there made it easier for him to comment, "This is weird."

She cocked her head to the side, "What's weird?"

"Me getting all gussied up without you." He swallowed and let his true fear come out after that, "What if I screw up or say the wrong thing and then she throws me into a bunker?" '. . . _and you won't be there to stop it.'_ He kept the last part to himself, knowing it would be better not to vocalize that. He's nervous, not stupid.

"Chuck, Ellie knows where you're going so it's not like General Beckman can come back without you but I'll be here by my phone all night. If you think it's going down that road, call me and I'll have you out of there before she can even think about making the order."

"Really?"

His tone was so innocent that Sarah couldn't help moving to him. With Chuck sitting he had to look up at her. His look was so hopeful, so earnest, she needed a distraction before she went too far. She grabbed his tie and started fixing it up so she didn't have to look at him while she responded, "Chuck, I won't let you go to a bunker. Just be careful and if you get nervous, take a deep breath and stay calm. She's a wild card but I don't think she'd do anything drastic unless you blow your cover, which I know you won't do." She gave him a stern look and straightened the tie to perfection. Personally, she was nervous too, but tonight Chuck needed Agent Walker's reassurance just like before any mission. Not her nerves. _'Lord knows he's got enough for the both of us.'_ "One call, Chuck, and I will take care of everything."

Chuck wasn't really sure what she meant by that but he gave her a crooked smile, knowing that what she said is true, "Thanks."

"You're welcome." Sarah wasn't exactly sure what she meant by that either but it doesn't matter now. She would stick by it. He wasn't going to a bunker if she had anything to say about it or not. That's final.

Chuck stood to full height and slid his sweaty hands down the coat, "Well, I'd better go. Don't want to start out on the wrong foot or anything." Sarah smiled as Chuck walked away. When he got to the door, he kept his hand on the knob as he turned to look at her one last time. "If I don't see you, it's been nice knowing ya." Chuck's eyes widened when he remembered the last time he'd said those words. Right before the bomb that wasn't a bomb but they thought it was a bomb went off. Right before the mistake.

Sarah looked down and fiddled with her fingers as the memory came back to her too. _'It wasn't a mistake.'_ She scrunched her brow, not sure of where that thought came. She looked back up to see him sort of kicking himself without trying to show that he was doing that. "Chuck?" He met her gaze timidly. Sarah gave him a brief smile before it went away at her nervousness, "Save you later."

Chuck smiled at that and left before he could mess it up anymore.


	16. Chapter 16

A/N: Hey guys! I realized I forgot to thank Yokaputo for her input last chapter with the Casey scenes, so thanks! You helped a bunch. Thanks to Bill for his awesomeness at beta work. Thanks to all of you who reviewed! I appreciate it greatly. And a special shout out to spcr71 for being the 188th reviewer =)

Chapter Sixteen

_. . . Sarah gave him a brief smile before it went away at her nervousness, "Save you later."_

_Chuck smiled at that and left before he could mess it up anymore._

Sarah stood looking at the front door Chuck used to exit a few moments before as if she could see through it and watch his every move. It wasn't until she barely heard the door to Ellie's apartment close that she turned away. She went back around the counter in search of something to eat. Deciding on a frozen dinner, she popped it in the microwave to heat up while she set up the VCR for the home movies and lost herself in thought, _'What did I mean when I said I'd take care of it? Was I just saying things?'_

She rolled her eyes to herself, her thoughts taking on a different persona, _'Of course you weren't sprouting off stuff. You know- without a doubt- you meant it when you said you'd take care of it but to what lengths is an entirely different matter. How far are you actually willing to go for him?'_

Sarah shook her head in self disgust at the new line of thoughts,_ 'It can't be that far because I'm not even brave enough to try a relationship with him. He always talks about how brave I am and that may be true in spy world. But in real world, I'm nothing but a chicken-shit. He is a lot braver than I could ever dream of being- both in spy world and real world.'_

The buzzer rang signaling that her food was done, successfully releasing her from her thoughts. As she started to walk back to the kitchen, her attention was diverted by the six man security team making their way through the courtyard. Sarah moved over to the window being sure to keep hidden in the shadows as she waited to see what would happen.

General Beckman was the first to address the team. Her hair was pulled out of her face in a fancier up do than usual. For jewelry, she had on a simple gold-chained locket around her neck with matching earrings. The dress she wore was an elegant long sleeved, solid black- a far cry from what Sarah was used to seeing her in, that's for sure. General Beckman exchanged a few words with the head of the security entourage before Chuck made an appearance. Sarah watched him swallow nervously as he tried to hide his flashes on the team members. _'Glad I put some aspirin in his coat pocket. He is going to have one massive headache by the time he gets home.'_

'_If-'_

'_No, its when. When.'_

Chuck looked over toward their apartment. She was sure he couldn't see her so she stepped out into the light just enough from him to know she was there, watching. She held up one finger and tapped it soundlessly on the glass. Chuck's responding nod and slight clench of his jaw were barely a whisper to the others around him. Two of the men took positions to the front as the two others flanked the back, leaving one for each side. General Beckman walked on confidently, her head held high, while Chuck stumbled along trying to keep pace with the group. His attention kept switching between where he was supposed to be going and all the men around them.

She smiled to herself as she watched him leave. His clumsiness was always something she found adorable. She bit her bottom lip as part of her answer came to her, _'Be honest with yourself, Walker. In spy world you are willing to go as far as necessary to keep him. You already know that from the first time they tried to take him. All you really have to figure out is how far you are willing to go for him in the real world.' _

She flinched at that last thought. _'Wait. What? No, that's not right because that would mean I'm compromised. I'm not compromised. We are around each other all the time. It's only natural to become close . . . friends even. It's as simple as that.' _

She shook her head to rid these thoughts and focused on keeping guard until she could no longer see them through the widow. _'Save you always,' _she thought as the last echo of footsteps resounded through the courtyard. She checked her pocket to make sure her phone was there. It would be glued to her for the rest of the night like she had told Chuck. Taking it out, she looked on as Chuck's GPS locater moved farther and farther away. She took a resolved breath and turned back towards the kitchen for her first night alone in what felt like forever.

**************

Chuck wiped his hands a few more times as he walked across the courtyard. To say he was nervous would be an understatement. Tonight he felt as if he didn't have anyone directly in his corner. On missions, Sarah and Casey were right there and he trusted them to look out for him. General Beckman on the other hand was a different story. She had her own agenda, one he wasn't privy to. Frankly he hardly knew the woman so this situation felt a lot more foreign to him than any mission thus far and extremely dangerous at that. He took a steadying breath- just like Sarah said to do- before he pushed the door open. He turned to close the door sending one last look towards his home. _'I hope I make it back there tonight.'_

General Beckman walked down the hallway to see Chuck shutting the door. He looked entirely different than she'd ever seen him. Granted the black eye could have something to do with that. It was odd in combination with the debonair of his tuxedo, more of a rugged sophistication. "Mr. Bartowski, you have to stay in the kitchen until I tell you to come out," she said as she stood at the end of the hallway.

Chuck turned at the sound of her voice and smiled a little at the 'stay in the kitchen' comment. _'At least it wasn't car this time,'_ he thought. "Yes, Ma'am," he said bringing his hand up for a mock salute. "Um, do I have a cover for tonight or anything?"

The General shook her head, "No. You are yourself for tonight. Without the Intersect, of course. However, you will flash on basically every person so keep those things to yourself unless it has to do with Fulcrum."

"Right," Chuck nodded and looked to the floor, "Right." As he glanced up again he took a moment to look her over. Not in the way a boyfriend would a girlfriend or how he would look at Sarah. _'Definitely not like that at all.'_ It was more like a mother son kind of thing or step mother- not that he was familiar with either of those situations but he just assumed. It was weird seeing her come out of his old room. And it was weird seeing her standing. And it was weird that she wasn't in uniform. And it was weird . . . well the whole thing was weird and uncomfortable. Chuck shoved his trembling hands into his pockets and moved around to the back of the couch toward the kitchen. Before walking through the frame, he turned to her and swallowed nervously, "Ah, y-you- you look nice, General," he stuttered out as he gave her a slight smile of sincerity. It would be rude to say nothing to a lady that took time to get ready for an evening out regardless of who she was, and Chuck was anything but rude. He didn't wait for a response, nor did he expect one, so he went to stand next to the fridge and wait for her word.

She watched him leave, taken aback and a bit touched that he'd mention anything regarding her appearance. _'Well, he's not lacking in courtesies.'_ General Beckman wasn't given time for anymore thought on his comment as a knock came from the door as the security team arrived.Her heels clicked across the hardwood, authority in every step. Keeping the door locked, she asked, "Yes?"

"It's a great night for dancing with devils, wouldn't you say?" came the muffled reply.

The General nodded approvingly to herself before giving the required response, "Only if it's under the pale moonlight." Once the door opened, the men saluted their superior officer. She nodded back, "At ease, Gentlemen. We have a civilian coming with us for the night. His safety is a top priority. Understood?"

"Yes, Ma'am."

"Good," she said as she looked back toward the kitchen, "Come along now, Mr. Bartowski."

Chuck let out a breath and swiped his sweaty hands once again. As he walked out, he smoothed his thumb and forefinger across his brow, preparing himself for the onslaught of images he was sure would come. He stood at the door and motioned for General Beckman to leave ahead of him. It was polite and gave him a few extra moments to prepare. He shut and locked the door before looking up to his protectors for the night. As predicted, he flashed on each individual and tried his best to keep them from noticing. They all had an impeccable service record but have chosen to stay stateside as a protection detail. _'Only the best for a General.'_ But regardless of how good these guys were, they just weren't Sarah and Casey.

While the group began organizing themselves, Chuck cast a longing glance towards his home. The apartment was lit but he couldn't see Sarah. Somehow, though, he knew she was watching. He felt it. A shadowy figure slid just barely into sight and tapped one finger across the window, reminding him she was just a phone call away. In return, he indicated that he'd seen as minutely as possible. Suddenly everyone around him started walking away, leaving Chuck to catch up or get trampled by the very large men behind him.

*****************

The wedding went along just fine. It didn't get past Casey that everyone turned to look when he came in with two ladies on his arm. It seemed everyone assumed he was here with Mary-Beth. She'd attached herself to Grace's hip and had been most obvious in her suggestive looks and touches on him. It took all he had to refrain from growling out loud at her actions. He preferred much more subtle women, like Grace.

Grace had been right, too. All night he's overheard a bunch of conversations about when she will get back in the game again and date. While he wasn't aware of the specifics, from what he'd gathered so far, it seemed Grace had been engaged to be married but he ran off with her cousin that was like a sister instead. He couldn't blame her for not wanting to date after that. In fact, he'd really like to get a piece of that guy. _'One good hit is all it would take . . .'_ he thought as his knuckles cracked in anticipation. But all of her family was here and he hadn't seen her act rudely to anyone. He'd met this cousin of hers briefly and didn't care one iota for her. She was snobby, impolite and high maintenance. He had no idea how any guy in his right mind would ever choose her over Grace.

He'd excused himself from that conversation the moment he was sure he'd say something disrespectful to her. And now, after finally evading MB tentacles, he'd found a table to sit at to decompress. Luckily it was an open bar, so here he sat by himself, observing the crowd and sipping on scotch. They were jerks but they had good taste. The upside and also the downfall of this table was that it was next to the bar so he could overhear what people thought were private conversations but that meant he could overhear what people were saying about Grace. Somehow Grace's cousin, Hope, had come out the clean one as if it were Grace's fault that she couldn't keep the man happy. It was like they believe Grace was the one who pushed him to Hope. John thought that the reason the family stuck with that was because the dill weed was filthy rich and took them for trips on expensive yachts.

He surveyed the room discreetly when his eyes fell on Grace who was listening intently to what the young teenager was telling her. He could tell she got on much better with the younger members of the family. The teenager pointed toward him and Grace looked over her shoulder at him with a smile. John nodded. Grace turned back toward the kid and said something before standing to walk to him. John had been grateful she didn't display him to the family as the man who did her a favor. In fact, Mary-Beth was the only one who knew that's who he was but she certainly wasn't telling anyone. She'd rather them believe he was here with her and not Grace. He watched Grace cross the ten or fifteen paces to him and stand across from him.

"Hi," she said.

John grunted with a small smile.

"May I sit?" she asked. When John nodded and pulled out the chair next to him, Grace rounded the table and sat next to him. She rested her elbow on the table and held her head so she could look at him. "So, are you okay with being here still or do you want to go?"

The corners of his mouth dropped a little as his brow rose and he gave a small shake of his head- gesturing his indifference.

Grace laughed and shook her head, "You are something else, John Casey."

He shared in her smile as he reached out and fiddled with his scotch glass. He brought it to his lips for a small sip before replying, "Does you asking mean you'd like to go?"

Grace's brow rose, "Oh, I'm not sure I ever actually wanted to come, but its family so . . . what can you do?"

He nodded at her explanation, though he'd never felt that way about his family. He didn't understand why she felt that way about her family. She just must be a much better person than he. _'Not hard."_

She brought her other hand up to the table and circled her index finger on the cloth. She kept her gaze downward as she said, "I assume you've heard a little about me tonight."

"Mmhmm."

She peeked at him through the corner of her eye, "And you're not going to ask me about it?"

He shrugged, "Why? I don't trust these people's opinions anyway." He took a swig of his drink, noticing how Grace's eyes lingered on the glass briefly.

"You don't trust their opinion?" she parroted. That's a lot better than she could say for most men. She hasn't brought anyone around the family in years. Obviously. But it had been more than six or seven years since she'd seen this side of the family. The only reason she'd known about the wedding was because of her grandma's funeral.

He clasped his hands together and rested his forearms against the table, "Nope." He released his hands shortly before putting them together again, "I'm not really sure why you do. They're not that nice."

Grace smoothed the table cloth as she responded without looking at him, "They're not that bad."

"Right, now look me in the face and say that."

She mimicked his sitting pattern and exhaled, "They're not that bad." He looked at her with an expression showing he didn't believe her. She widened her elbows and rested her hands on the table, thinking of what to say. She didn't exactly want people to have a bad opinion of them, even when she knew they weren't the greatest people. She had some fond memories with some of them. She shook her head and smiled, "Will I still get a ride home if I defend them a little?"

He nodded.

"Well," she said, leaning a bit closer to him and pointed at the teenager she'd been talking to, "that's Christina. She is your typical misunderstood teenager, but she has a heart of gold." Grace scanned the room, deliberately looking over Gertrude, saving her for last so hopefully John could finish his drink, "Let's see, there's Gemma. She always wanted to be a trophy wife to a rich man so she could start up a charity for children who were born with physical deformities whose families couldn't afford to fix them. Shallow, yes, but kind of sweet." She watched John take another sip of his drink while actively listening to what she had to say. He had about half his drink left. "And there is Mary-Beth. I'm sure you don't like her but when we went to family 'camp-outs'- and I say 'camp-outs' because it was a lush family cabin in the mountains so it doesn't count-" John and Grace shared a chuckle and then she continued, "-anyway, we would pull pranks on our parents every year. It was always my idea but we all had a great laugh."

She paused for a moment, reminiscing in memories. She stopped looking at him as she said, "Which brings me to Gertrude." She nodded over to the old lady who was in the middle of a discussion with Hope, "She took me in after my parents died. And while it was more like a Cinderella set up but not quite the same, I was grateful because even though I wasn't her child she still came to things that were important to me, snobbish attitude and all. But at least she showed up which was more than some people could say about their own parents."

John moved his fingers up and down his scotch glass, playing with the condensation as he listened. He was shocked to learn her parents died and that Gertrude of all people took her in. "Why didn't your grandma take you? Weren't you guys close?"

"Yes, we were. But she had health problems of her own to take care of and after she'd divorced my grandfather, she wasn't in the best financial situation to take care of a child so the state decided that she wasn't an option." She tapped her finger on the table and smiled, "My grandma was really the only reason I came to family gatherings and stuff. She used to say that it doesn't matter what they do. It matters what you do and since they are family, you should treat them as such. But give them hell with kindness and never let what they say affect you. It's fun to mess with them like that too, when they want you to be agitated but you're not. Gertrude is an easy target for that."

John nodded at the explanation. His thoughts bounced back to her parents. He wasn't sure why he cared so much but he wanted to know everything he could. "What happened to your parents?"

Her gaze shifted to his glass once again. She moved her mouth sideways, contemplating what to say or if she should share. He already knew so much about her and she barely knew anything about him. He wasn't much of a talker and she gets that but _something_ would be nice. So she said as much, "You share something first. I feel like you know a lot about me and I hardly know anything about you."

He bowed his head and put out his warning to her before they got too involved, "I'm not sure you'd like what I have to share. I've done things I'm not proud of, things that would scare you. I'm not a very good man, Grace."

Grace looked disbelievingly at him, "I'm inclined to disagree with that sentiment, John. In the whole time I've known you, you've been nothing but kind and even put up with all my ramblings. You're rough around the edges, yes. But beneath all of that, you are a good man. I know it. I don't normally trust people so easily all things considered, but you . . . you I trust."

He nodded and messed with his glass, thinking of what to share, hoping it wouldn't have to be something too big. He decided to let her choose, "What would you like to know?"

"What would I like to know? Hmm," Grace thought for a moment before she said, "It's hard to know what to ask now that I've been put on the spot. Truthfully, there are so many things I would like to know about you that I wouldn't even know where to begin."

"How bout we both think about it and talk tomorrow after dinner? I'll warn you now though, there are some things I won't be able to answer because of security clearances."

"Right. Colonel and all."

"So your parents?"

Once again, she looked at his glass briefly before meeting his eyes. "My parents were killed by a drunk driver when I was fifteen. My mother died at the scene but my father was put on life support. I wasn't old enough to choose if he could stay that way or not so everyone in the family decided to pull the plug."

John realized why she'd been looking at his glass now. Words escaped him as they normally did in circumstances such as these so he chose to act. He pushed the scotch away from him and grabbed his keys out of his pocket. While he wasn't drunk or even close to being tipsy, he figured it would make her more comfortable to drive. He held out his keys to her, "Here."

Grace smiled at his thoughtfulness. "Okay, but first," she said pushing the keys into his pocket, "We have to dance." She grabbed his hand and pulled him on the dance floor.

**************

Chuck and General Beckman arrived to the party about a half hour ago. As expected, he'd flashed on basically every person so now his head was killing him again and on top of it all he had to listen to the mindless droning of all the people around him. He doubted if General Beckman was noticing anything since he was still trying to be on his best behavior. A vibration resonated in his pocket, alerting he'd received a text. He pulled out his phone and left it on his lap as he checked the message. It was from Sarah. _Check your pocket _was all it said. Confused, he slid the phone back into his pocket without responding and fished around in it for the thing he was suppose to find. When checking his breast pocket, he'd finally found what he was looking for. Sarah had dropped some aspirin into his coat. He bit back a smile at her thoughtfulness and decided to wait until he ate something to take it.

"So who is this you've brought with you, General?" a woman asked. Chuck was pretty sure she was the wife of a senator but he could quite remember. They were all mixing together.

The General looked to Chuck and replied, "This is Mr. Bartowski."

The woman reached out her hand to Chuck and said in what could be considered a sultry tone, "Pleasure."

Chuck took her hand with a small, uncomfortable smile, "Indeed."

"What do you do, Mr. Bartowski?"

"I-ah," he started and then looked to the General for any hint as to what he isn't allowed to say, "Um, I-"

"Mr. Bartowski works with computers," Beckman interrupted. Even she realized how stupid it would be to bring just a Buy More employee to Governor's ball for no apparent reason. In that moment, she thought of his new cover job, "We are looking to recruit him for a new project."

"You are?" Chuck asked shocked but at the look the General gave him he quickly tried to save grace, "Oh, that's right you are. That's what we were discussing on the way in." He let out a small laugh, hoping no one noticed that this was the first time he was actually hearing about it, "Sorry. It seemed to have slipped my mind with all the festivities." He gave everyone a charming little smile with some sort of twinkle in his eye.

General Beckman internally rolled her eyes but noted that no one at the table seemed to mind. In fact, they all shared a laugh. "Mr. Bartowski has been able to fix all the problems we've thrown at him so we've decided to consider him for the position."

Another woman smiled flirtatiously, "Really?" She began to open her purse and pull out her phone, "Somebody changed my phone to Spanish. Can you fix it?"

Chuck laughed nervously, "Ah, Spanish isn't really my thing but I can give it a shot." He reached out and took the blackberry from her. He put his iPhone on the table and pulled up a Spanish translator while everyone else went back to their conversation from before. He was happy to have a small reprieve. It didn't take long for him to finish and he handed the phone back its rightful owner with a smile, "Here you go. Good as new."

"Chuck Bartowski?"

He around the room in the direction he'd heard his name being called.

A man and a woman were making their way over to him, "Hey, it is you!"

His eyes widened in shock as he recognized who was coming toward him. None other than, "Gavin DeHaun. Long time no see." He stood up to greet them.

"Good to see you man," Gavin said as he reached in and gave Chuck a hug, "What happened to your face? I never thought I'd see the day."

Chuck fingered the bandage as if he'd forgotten it was there, "Oh, well nothing really. Just a misunderstanding." He recognized the woman too but he wasn't sure if she had a new alias so he changed the subject from him to her, "And who is this?"

Gavin stepped back and looked the lady up and down appreciatively, causing her to blush. "This is the lovely Carina."

Given the girl, Chuck couldn't be sure if it was a fake blush or a real one. His eyebrows rose as he realized she kept her name. Choosing to play it off as if he didn't know her, he stuck out his hand and said, "Nice to meet you."

Carina smirked as she realized his game but since she liked making him uncomfortable, she asked, "Aren't you dating Sarah Walker? She's told me a lot about you."

Chuck felt the sweat gathering in his palms but didn't get to say anything as Gavin beat him to the punch, "Small world."

"The smallest," Chuck said. "So what are you doing here?"

"My manager got me a gig here. You should meet him. He might be looking for new musicians-"

"Oh, no. That's okay. I don't really do the music thing anymore."

"Really? You're amazing though."

"Well, when you loose your mojo for something, it's hard to get back."

"Gavin!" a man barked. "You've got five before you have to be on stage."

Chuck looked up at the man calling the shots and immediately flashed. He assumed the man must be Gavin's manager. The manager was suspected of using Gavin's band as a means to transport drugs for a Columbian Drug Cartel all across the nation. _'So that explains Carina.'_

"Alright, Richard. I'm on my way." Gavin turned back to Chuck, "Guess that's my cue to leave. It was great seeing you again, Chuck. If you stick around long enough, maybe we can set up plans to get together sometime." He pulled out a business card and handed it to Chuck, "But if not, just give me a call. And you're certain you don't want to talk to Richard? I mean, he's really done a lot for my career."

'_I'll bet he has,'_ Chuck thought. "I'll think about it."

"Great. Well, I'm gonna get ready. Give me a call," Gavin said, tugging Carina along with him.

As Chuck turned to sit down at the table, a military man directed a question at General Beckman, "So how is Eve doing?"

"Oh, you know Eve, Walter. Fighting as usual," Diane said with pride.

"No doubt about that," Walter said.

Everyone turned back to their plate and ate their food, allowing the subject to be dropped. Chuck leaned over and whispered to General Beckman, "Who is Eve?"

"She is my granddaughter."

"Oh. What's wrong with her?"

General Beckman stopped cutting the steak on her plate and looked at him. "She's," she paused, thinking of how to say it. She directed her focus back to her plate and said, "she's dying."

Chuck's eyes softened as he saw the first kind of any emotion cross her face in the time he'd known her. It was as if she was an entirely different person than he first thought. He could tell she didn't really want to say that and that she was upset she couldn't fix it. Without thinking, Chuck put his hand on her forearm comfortingly, "I'm sorry. Is there anything I can do?"

General Beckman swallowed the lump in her throat from her admission. "Excuse me," she said, putting her silverware down and walking outside to the balcony. It wouldn't do to cry now.

Chuck watched her leave with a new understanding. _'So that's why she's here. If Casey's known her for a long time and was friends with her son, that must be the personal thing he's dealing with. It's not Casey that's sick. Poor Beckman. It isn't enough that her son died almost two years ago but now his child is too.'_ He excused himself from the table and went after the General. A little fresh air might do him some good too. He found her leaning against the railing, looking out to the gardens below. He stood next to her with his hands in his pockets and looked out too. _'This might not have been a good idea, Chuck.'_ He quickly waived that thought off because she may be a General but that doesn't mean that she doesn't have feelings that get hurt sometimes.

She never looked at him but acknowledged his presence with a statement, "I presume you've figured it out then, between your flash on Trisha and my answer about Eve."

"Not everything, but some things." They fell to an awkward silence before Chuck spoke again, "I-" he paused to feel out if she would stop him from continuing. When she didn't he said, "I meant what I said. If there's anything I can do, I'll do it. And I'm sorry for any unnecessary burden or strain I've put on you these past few years."

The General scoffed and shook her head, "Unnecessary burden. I should be apologizing to you. I haven't made it easy for you even when you've done as we've asked."

"That's okay," Chuck said, leaning down to the banister. He figured it'd be okay to stay since she wasn't yelling at him or telling him to go. "It's not your fault I'm stuck with this thing anyway. You gave me the best protection I could ever need to help me navigate this whole mess so thank you."

She nodded. _'Leave it to Bartowski to think of it differently,'_ she thought. They stood quietly for a few more moments, just slightly less awkward than before. She was beginning to realize the trouble that her agents were having keeping their distance from this family. Admittedly it was much easier for Major Casey to keep his distance since he was only playing a next door neighbor but for Agent Walker it was extraordinarily more difficult. She was having to play girlfriend to what Beckman has come to see is a remarkable young man. It was one thing reading about him on paper, because on paper, he was a guy that allowed life to run over him. But in reality, he was a survivor. Through all that he's been through, he's managed to cope with holding the fate of an entire Nation on his shoulders while single-handedly keeping that dumb store he works for from going under. He's continued to hold steady relationships with his friends and family while dealing with life and death situations. This man is someone who runs into buildings with bombs, who gives his sister the antidote to a truth serum over saving himself, who no matter how many times has been let down still finds enough room in his heart to give. He was an example of using all the best of what he has been given in the worst of circumstances. Being here now, she was finding it hard not to like him. From the distance she maintained she thought nothing of one day putting him in a bunker but now, it was hard to imagine the fallout of Mr. Bartowski leaving.

In the silence, Chuck was starting to gain some courage to ask her something that's been on his mind for a while. The nervousness bubbling in his stomach was not enough to keep him from blurting out, "Can I ask you something off the record?"

She narrowed her eyes and looked over to him, calculating. "Alright."

"I realize this may not be the best time to bring it up but," Chuck took a deep breath to prepare himself. Now that he started he didn't want to take it back. "I'm just . . . I don't think I understand the policy about emotional attachments between co-workers. I mean, and I'm sorry if this doesn't make sense and comes out all jumbled, but it's just . . . don't you teach your men in the military to never leave a guy behind? How can you not expect people that go through wars together not to form some sort of bond with each other? You know, sometimes it takes going through it together to really understand what happened. I don't get how you guys can think that having an emotional attachment to someone wouldn't make you fight harder to keep the people you are protecting alive. With everything that's happened, it would be crazy if Sarah and Casey and I didn't have some sort of connection with each other. I know if it weren't for them saving my life everyday, if it weren't for how I felt about who they are as people, that I would be less willing to run into dangerous situations just to protect them. I guess I can understand how all of it can be somewhat distracting but isn't it more distracting when you long for it?"

The General sighed and considered his question. "To be clear, you're asking why have a policy against it if we teach, to some degree, to fight for your assets and partners?"

"That's the general gist of it, yeah."

"It's not that we expect no attachment to form. As you have pointed out, it's human nature to create bonds but it's the type of bond you make that matters. For instance, you would never feel the way about Eleanor as you do about Morgan, correct?"

"Well, yeah but that doesn't mean that I wouldn't do the same things for them."

_'That's because you are a man of integrity.'_ She opened her mouth to say something but shut it again, rethinking how to approach the subject. It would be best to not say anything that would bite her in the ass later.

Chuck could see her struggling to find an appropriate answer. It made him glad to think he was able to cause her to actually think about the rules rather than just state them. And it was weird having her here in the capacity of Grandmother rather than boss.

"Mr. Bartowski, I'm afraid my answer will not suffice for you but I'll try my best to be forthright. A certain amount of compromise is bound to happen when you're around people for a lengthy period of time. It's when that compromise keeps you from effectively doing your job that's the problem. It's not that having an attachment is bad. It's what you do with that attachment that matters. Some people are able to distinguish between work life and home life but for most it's all the same. People do crazy thing when emotions are involved. Think of all the emotionally heated arguments that you've had in your life. Isn't it true to say that sometimes you've said things you didn't really mean because of an emotionally charged moment?"

"I guess."

"And isn't it true to say that you've done things because you were emotional, like keeping yourself in a five year funk because of a girlfriend and an old friend? Doing what you know is a dead end search for your father because it would make your sister happy to have him here for her wedding? Even revealing your deepest secret to keep those closest to you safe?"

"Okay. I'll give you that."

"Emotions come at a cost. Attachments can cost lives. Having none of either is just the same. It's the unfortunate catch-22 of the human existence."

"That makes sense," Chuck nodded his head in solemn agreement, looking down. He shifted his feet as faced back to the General, thinking how to word his next question. "So the decision to reassign Sarah was because you think we have an attachment that falls outside of protocol?"

"Oh, I don't think it. I know it. To be honest, Mr. Bartowski, I've known for a while that Agent Walker's objectivity has been compromised, though I'm not certain that she is aware of the extent of it. Agent Walker at some point has changed her primary objective from being about the Intersect to being about you. And that is something I am certain she is unaware of."

He nodded. Not quite knowing what to do with that statement, he changed topics, "When I thought it was Casey that was sick, it got me thinking about what would happen if one of my handlers were to leave. It made me wonder what you would choose to do with me. Because I realize that inevitably something will have to be done and I kind of want to be prepared and not surprised."

"That's a valid concern for you to have. Let me be clear, Mr. Bartowski, I do not like playing God. Wielding the hand of fate is a great responsibility, one I do not take lightly. But you have to realize that it is my job, my duty to do what is in the best interest for the entire Nation and not just for one man within it," the General said. "We are all working on the same mission but we have different priorities in the mission. Our primary objectives are not the same. My obligation as a General in the United States Air Force is to keep my country and all its inhabitants safe. Your obligation as the Intersect, regardless of if you wanted it or not, is to interpret the information you have in your head to the best of your ability so we can protect humanity, which inherently means that you also need to keep yourself out of harms way to accomplish your objective. Colonel Casey and Agent Walker's obligation is to ensure the safety of the information you have stored in your head, which means they may have to lay down their lives for it and by extension you. Because of these differences there's always going to be moments of conflicted interest. That's just the way things are. In my duty, sometimes there are unfortunate circumstances that arise which make it so that a choice needs to be made to sacrifice the one to protect the many. I realize that your life has come to teeter on edge as a single individual over being encompassed in the many and at some point a choice will need to be made in regards to you.

As a citizen of this country it is still my duty to ensure your safety, but to what end. The choice I have to make to put you in a bunker or be otherwise disposed of does not come easily for me. Even the choice to keep the Intersect in your head or help you in your quest to get it out is a heavy decision. Which ever choice I make, I want you to know that I do have your best interest in mind and I mean all the best intentions. I will see it as having done my duty as General if we keep you from being captured by Fulcrum or any other terrible organizations by any means necessary. I don't think you understand that even if you get the Intersect out of your head, these people will stop at nothing to get to you because you have the capability to retain and process enormous amounts of information. Someone will want to get it back in there at some point," she said pointing at his head, "But if you choose to keep it in your head then I can keep you protected. As far as the bunker or worse, with either one, I will still see it as having done my duty because with the bunker, it keeps you protected. It keeps you safe and your family safe and all the people of America safe, regardless of the emotional fallout. The same with terminating you because, you see, if it were to be Fulcrum or Al Qaeda or anybody else, it would not be quick, it would not be easy and it would not come without a price."

"So basically, you're gonna kill me or take me for my own good?"

"I don't mean this disrespectfully, Mr. Bartowski, but yes. That is precisely what I am saying."

Chuck shook his head, "I don't like it. I suppose I'm not supposed to, but I guess I understand where you're coming from." He rubbed his hands together before standing. He put his hands into his pockets and kicked the bottom of the railing lightly. "So you know about me looking for my father?"

"Yes. I'm surprised you haven't asked Walker for help."

"I'd never ask them to do something illegal. I haven't even told them about it." He shifted his weight back and forth nervously. When she didn't comment further on the discovery, Chuck said, "You can call me Chuck, you know."

************

Sarah settled herself in front of the TV. She put the Julliard audition in first to get it out of the way. It started as just him on the car ride there and you could here Ellie and Morgan in the background sending him words of encouragement that made Chuck blush. The tape cut for a moment and came back as an announcer stated his name for the crowd and stated the piece he was playing was an original. According to the time stamp, he audition over an hour or so after her so she didn't really need to finish it, but her curiosity got the better of her as she saw him nervously make his way on stage. He sat at the piano and closed his eyes for a moment. The muscles in his jaw clenched as he swallowed and brought his hands up to the keys. He opened his eyes and let out a breath before he started to play.

"Wow," Sarah breathed out quietly as the melody reached her ears. His fingers moved gracefully over the keys just like when he was typing. His body swayed a little with the rhythm as the music washed over him. A powerful silence spread throughout the room as each person listened intently to every note struck. He was about a minute into it when he looked up into the wing. She didn't know what he saw but suddenly he stopped playing. Sarah's brow furrowed in confusion as Chuck walked to the microphone. All he said was, "I'm sorry. I can't do this. Thank you for your time," and then he left the stage. Murmurs were heard in the background and then the camera shook when Ellie or Morgan picked it up and shut it off.

Static shouted out from the speakers as the screen showed black and white flurries across it. Sarah muted the TV and sat confused. "Why would he do that?" she asked aloud to herself. It's not like she could ask him about it. She shook her head and moved to change the tape. Before pressing play, she sent Chuck a text about the medicine. Hopefully by this point he'd been able to eat something.

Throughout the night she saw some of his singing performances and was again surprised to learn that when he tried he could sing and sing well- just as she had suspected. She watched parts of the plays that he was in, noting that he acted well too. She liked learning new things about him that contradicted her previous notions of him when she started the mission and reinforced her new ones. He was still a puzzle to her just as she was to him. But one thing is for certain. She's enjoying learning about the enigma that is Chuck Bartowski.

While in the middle of one of the choir concerts, Sarah realized she hadn't heard anything back from Chuck. She'd gotten so caught up in learning about him, she'd forgotten about it. She pulled out her phone to make sure she didn't miss something or that that battery didn't die. The phone was fully charged and functioning. She stood and started to pace, thinking about what to do. It was unlike Chuck to not say anything back to her. She checked his GPS location and it was in the same place it'd been for the past hour. _'That could be some sort of misdirection, though.'_

Her heart beat quickly as she sent off another text. _'Alright, Sarah. Give it five minutes and if he hasn't responded, then call. This is no time to panic or get paranoid.'_ She took a deep breath and sat down on the couch. Holding the phone in one hand, she tapped it against the other as if it would make a response come faster. Her knee bounced up and down in time with the slaps of her phone. Realizing what she was doing she set the phone on the table and sat back, crossing her arms and legs. _'Oh, for God sake, Walker. Pull yourself together and stop acting like your bumbling nerd!'_

'_Wait. _My_ bumbling Nerd? He isn't my bumbling nerd-'_

'_But you want him to be,'_ she argued internally.

'_Stop it! Stop it! Stop it!' _She was half inclined to put her hands over her ears as if that would stop her from hearing her own thoughts. Her thoughts were interrupted as the choir on the tape started in on their next song. The words were strangely reminiscent of her inner turmoil:

_If there's a prize for rotten judgment  
I guess I've already won that  
No man is worth the aggravation  
That's ancient history, been there, done that!_

_Who'd'ya think you're kiddin'  
He's the Earth and heaven to you  
Try to keep it hidden  
Honey, we can see right through you  
Girl, ya can't conceal it  
We know how ya feel and  
Who you're thinking of_

Sarah rolled her eyes and all but gagged. _'Why do schools feel the need to have cliché songs sang at choir performances?'_ She shook her head and seethed, her legs bouncing ferociously. Her anger was directed to more herself than the choir. She sighed and leaned forward to look at her phone. Still nothing. She scoffed and stood up, walking into the kitchen to refill her glass of water. It was something to focus on.

'_What if Beckman already took him?'_ she thought as the water rose in the glass. Her heart sank at the thought. Sarah dropped the glass in the sink and slammed the faucet off. She ran back to her room to change and grab what she'd need to get him. Halfway down the hallway, her phone started ringing. "Chuck!" she said, changing direction. She leaped over the couch and picked up her phone. She almost dropped it in her frenzy but she managed to hang on to it, "Chuck?"

"Hey, Sarah," his voice responded. Noting the haste in her voice he asked, "are you okay?'

"Fine." She felt the adrenaline stop pumping through her veins as she fell heavily onto the couch. She sighed and swallowed a lump of happiness and relief caught in her throat, "I'm fine."

"You sure?"

She brought her hand up and covered her eyes at her stupidity. Against her better judgment she shared her fears or tried to, "You just- you weren't- you didn't answer my text and I got . . . worried." _'and scared and frightened and angry and nervous and everything all at once.'_

"I'm sorry. I meant to but I didn't get a chance. Thanks for the medicine by the way. I really needed them."

She smiled in spite of herself, "You're welcome."

"I'm sorry I didn't text you back-"

"Its okay, Chuck. I'm sure I over reacted, right? No news is good news."

They shared an awkward pause and laugh. Sarah felt quite foolish all things considered but she was content to just sit here all night even if they said nothing. Chuck laid that idea to rest though when he said, "Well, I've got to go. But, hey, I've figured out why she's here. I'll talk to you when I get home?"

"Right. Home." She felt her body melt deeper into the couch as he said home and the confidence behind the word put her at ease. "I'll see you when you get here."

They both hung up as the last words of the song sang out:

_At least out loud,  
I won't say I'm in love_

**************************************

So that's it then. Thanks for reading. And FYI I don't own Disney songs or Chuck. But I like 'em.


	17. Chapter 17

A/N: Hey guys! So so so sorry that this took longer to get out than I anticipated. Couple of reasons for that being I was taking care of my nephew who's been sick (he's better so yea for that) and I didn't actually have anything planned for this chapter. Technically, this chapter wasn't going to be in existence. This is in response to the reviews I received from the last chapter. Bill and I also had a lot of back and forth on this one too. It was a good healthy debate and I truly value his opinion. I think it turned out alright all things considered. But this is specifically for you guys and it actually turned out to be a pretty important chapter so thank you all. You guys are fantastic!

Chapter Seventeen

Chuck followed along side General Beckman as they made their way back inside, a new found comfort level shared between them. It was still awkward, yes, but any sort of resentment toward each other was no longer present. Chuck likened their relationship closer to the sort of relationship he had with Casey (friendly but not exactly friends) whereas before it was more of a level of tolerance than anything else. Understanding her motivations helped him get past any lingering ill feelings he held toward her. She was only doing her job and he should try to make things easier for her. It's not like she doesn't have a lot on her plate.

Despite feeling like he should be more cooperative, he felt he should share his point of view on the matter. It could help ease the awkwardness and now was as good a time as any considering she didn't seem opposed to speaking with him tonight. It probably had something to do with the fact that he was the lesser of two evils. But voicing his opinion could also backfire and then what? Sarah would be so livid but he needed some modicum of control in his life. He would never be content with the choice of being killed or bunkerized without having said his piece. Actually, he'd never, ever really be okay with it. He swallowed and tried to gain his nerve to speak. Without realizing he'd done it he questioned quietly, "General?"

She stopped walking and looked up to the taller man expectantly. Truth be told, he'd been a complete gentleman tonight and she couldn't find it in her to not nurse this new page in their relationship. _'At least for tonight,'_ she told herself. She figured it was coming. He would say something especially with how he reacted after the incident with Orion. Who was she to deny him his freedom of speech?

He noticed her looking at him and he raised his eyebrows, _'Oh, so I did say that out loud. Alright, well . . . here goes nothing.' _He cleared his throat and spoke more loudly, "General Beckman, would you . . ." he held up his finger and thought, _'Wait, how do I start? "Hey, General, I'm not exactly kosher with the whole dead or bunker solution. Do you think we could skip that part and let bygones be bygones?" Yeah, that would work . . .'_ "- c-are for a dance?" he finished lamely. _'Coward.'_

She looked at him as if he'd sprung another head spontaneously. That was certainly not what she'd been expecting him to say. "Excuse me?"

Blush rose up his cheeks as he mentally slapped his hand over his face causing him to turn to babbling, "Dance? You know, jovial, lively? That thing you do with your feet that's not quite like walking-"

Beckman rolled her eyes, "I'm aware of what dancing is, Chuck. Why?"

"Ah . . . um- ah . . ." _'to stall? Or for witnesses' maybe?'_ ". . . because everyone else is?" He mentally gave himself a mock applaud for that one. _'Bravo, Chuck. Go with the crowd. Awesome idea . . . not.'_

She sighed and looked around. "Alright."

"Seriously?"

Beckman just raised her brow.

Chuck smiled sheepishly and stuck out his elbow. "Awesome." He led her to the floor silently. Being that she was quite a bit shorter than he, Chuck had to bend his knees to accommodate her size. He waited for her to settle into frame as he listened for the beat. Once she was ready, he looked at her and nodded indicating his intentions silently as he led her to move backward.

General Beckman was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was to follow him. She didn't know he could dance. She only knew the clumsy and nervous rambling side of him. His grace threw her for a loop. He was a very surprising individual indeed.

After they had a few comfortable turns, Chuck felt his confidence building. He broke the silence and said, "If I may, General, I'd like to offer my rebuttal to our conversation. Since I know where you stand, I think it's only fair for you to know where I stand. That way we can just agree to disagree or better yet come to some sort of a compromise."

She mentally smiled to herself. She'd been right. "I already know where you stand. You want normal-"

"Respectfully, Ma'am, I think it's safe to say with everything that's happened in my life, even before knowing about you, I'm not exactly cut out for normal. I do want normal but I also need to be realistic, meaning I'll settle for as close to normal as possible. And I'd appreciate the chance to elaborate on my position."

'_Just for tonight,'_ she thought again. "Alright."

"Really? Wow! Okay, um," Chuck felt his confidence floundering, not having expected her to say yes. He paused to collect his thoughts and focused downward. He watched their feet shuffle back and forth for a bit and took a deep breath, _'Alright, Chuck. Moment of truth.'_ As he faced the General, the look in his eyes changed from one of uncertainty to one of strengthened resolve, "Look General, I realize I wouldn't have been your first pick for-" he stopped and looked around the room. He figured it best to not mention anything involving the word _Intersect_ while inside. Better not give her any cause to take him away, "any of this. I'm an emotional, untrained, uncoordinated, regular guy and I'm not exactly the bravest person you'd ever meet. I ramble when I'm nervous and probably- well definitely couldn't stand through a long helping of torture. Don't get me wrong, I'd die before I ever said anything but it just wouldn't take me as long to get to the . . ." he gulped, "dead part." He gave a small shake of his head to keep his mind from wandering and focus on the task at hand, "I understand where you are coming from, I really do, but I think it's important for you to understand that I'm not from your world. I don't- I don't come from a world where emotions are hazardous and trust isn't given or even allowed to be earned. And you can say that means I'm somehow ignorant or incapable of comprehending the world that you live in but that's not true. I'm not entirely oblivious to what living in your world does to someone, how paranoid it can make them.

That said, I can't resign myself to either being killed or put in a bunker. I just can't. I . . . I won't. I understand why you'd think that would be best but having stated that I am an emotional guy- which I do not intend to insinuate is a flaw- and in knowing that emotions are chemical reactions, the Int- this thing would most likely be affected by my mental and emotional state of mind. The people I have in my life- Ellie, Morgan, Devon, Sarah, even Casey- I need them there. Especially Ellie. We've gone through far too much together for me to just leave her without saying anything, especially after the abandonment of our parents. And Sarah . . . well, she makes me believe I am capable anything. I think I can't, she says I can, and she's always been right. I've come out on top of the most absurd situations like flying a helicopter for example. She guided me through that . . . I'm not going to deny what you said before about Sarah's and my relationship, at least on my end. I won't speak for her. She would probably have something different to say about that anyway. But seeing as you already know I have strong feelings for her, resistance is futile, as they say." They both shared a small chuckle, though it was more of a hum for the General, before he continued, "I truly believe in my heart that it's because of my friendship with Sarah, my- my feelings for her that I am able to or have been able to survive in your world. She is singularly the greatest thing that has ever happened to me regardless of if I am ever allowed to tell her that or not. She is phenomenal both at her job and as a person. And if you take her away or me away, I'm afraid I won't be as effective, which is counterproductive for you."

General Beckman narrowed her eyes at him, "Are you trying to blackmail me into keeping Agent Walker with you or to go against protocol? Relationships may sometimes be overlooked when it's agent/agent but they are never overlooked for an asset/agent." _'And if you only knew what I've seen these past few days, you would reconsider what Agent Walker thoughts are about you,'_ she thought.

"No. Not at all. To blackmail would mean I have to with hold something from you in order to obtain my objective. I wouldn't withhold the information I have just to reach a personal gratification, not at the expense of the lives of others. I'm just stating a fact." _'Although that would be a dream come true!'_ "And the fact of the matter is we don't understand everything about how this works, even two years later. I mean, it doesn't make sense that I didn't go crazy like everyone else, right? How is that possible? The odds weren't in my favor- that out of the seven billion people on this planet, I'm the only one who seems capable of facing this thing head on."

General Beckman had already fallen prey to paranoia. She was fairly certain Chuck Bartowski didn't have a manipulative bone in his body, but that didn't stop her first thoughts from turning to blackmail. She exhaled loudly as if that would dispel the paranoia she felt, "You are quite different than most people."

"Thanks," Chuck gave a lopsided and tight smile, "All I'm saying that I'm certain Sarah is a big reason I've been able to do as well as I have. Maybe that's because on some subconscious level, I'm trying to impress her-"

General Beckman tilted her head, shooting him a knowing look.

"-alright so it's on a conscious level," he amended, blushing deeply. "Anyways, it's obvious I'm not cut out for this world, but as long as Sarah is there, I know can bear it for however long is necessary. If I could describe to you what it felt like knowing that Sarah may have been forced to ruin what I'm sure amounts to a perfect record in the Agency because of something _I_ said, something _I_ did, I don't think I could have forgiven myself. She's been the consummate professional and I've been the one creating the strain on that. I promise I'll work on that as best as I can but _please_ don't remove anyone from this assignment. Our team is solid. We've bonded, we mesh, we complement each other. You've said so yourself. Maybe not in so many words but you have said that we are your best team, and I just don't want the possibility of reassignment or bunkers take away from that. You may not see it yet, but it's a good thing we trust each other. Any slack in objectivity our trust may cause is made up for by our effectiveness, an effectiveness you can't deny exists. "

They spun around a couple times and then she said, "I think you may have misunderstood me before. As of now, I have no intention of disrupting the status quo but events could happen in the future that make it so that the choice comes to a head. And when that time comes, those are the choices. I realize that it is through no fault of your own that that is the outcome but it is also through no fault of mine either."

"Right. I wasn't saying that it was, but there has got to be some way that we can both get what we want, right? You're a smart woman. I'm not always the ripest apple in the barrel but with a little creative thinking, I'm sure between the two of us we could come up with _something_, couldn't we?"

She kept quiet, thinking. He clearly didn't have a very high opinion of himself. The man went to Stanford for goodness sake and here he was belittling his intelligence. There was something to say for his humility. As far as uncoordinated, well, he just blew that out the window by their current actions alone. And a 'regular guy' wouldn't act the way he had with everything that's happened between them. She knew their relationship was practically none existent before tonight but he'd still been kind enough to compliment her, open the door for her, little things that showed Chuck Bartowski was no 'regular guy.' He was exceptional.

'_You're allowed to make exceptions for exceptional people,'_ her conscience nagged. She rolled her eyes as her conscience continued, _'Don't look at me. You're the one who said it, remember?'_ Her thoughts went back to the conversation with Eve a long time ago. It was just before they'd figured out that Trisha had been infected with the drug NRAD made and Trisha's moods were to the extreme. And she did recall saying that to Eve.

It was entirely unfair that a man such as Chuck be limited to the options she'd suggested, even she knew that. But what else is there?

In her silence, Chuck tried to think of other options, something logical and concrete to suggest but he came up shorthanded. He knew that there could be circumstances beyond his or her control that would make it so no matter what they agreed on, he'd still have to go to the bunker or be killed when this is all over. That realization was almost more than he could stomach but maybe there was something else, "General, I know the policy regarding fraternization between assets and agents but if I really am going to either be killed or put underground, couldn't you at least just agree to let me have something real with Sarah while I have the chance? Only if she wants it, of course. I wouldn't force her or anything especially considering the end result of my life. But this one time, couldn't you just look the other way? You'll still have your precious commodity but you'll have one with a happier countenance."

General Beckman kept quite. He had made some valid points. Keeping the man who housed all the Nations secrets happy would be in the best interest of the country. She had no doubts Agent Walker would take a chance with Chuck even in time. At some point, Chuck and Walker are going to either break protocol anyway or Walker will ask for reassignment so she doesn't have to face temptation everyday. The latter would be the more likely scenario since Walker loathed breaking protocols. And then Chuck would be depressed and that probably isn't good for the Intersect. But she still needed more time to decide. "We'll see."

Chuck's eyes lit up at the implication. "We'll see?" he repeated, a hopeful lilt in his voice.

"We'll see," she repeated with a nod. "But if I say yes, and that is still a big if, you'd both be on probation until it is deemed that the relationship will not hinder the effectiveness of the team."

"But you'll consider the possibility?" The General nodded once and Chuck smiled as though a huge weight had been lifted from his shoulders, "Thank you."

She gave him her most stern glare, her tone of utmost seriousness as she said, "Keep in mind, Mr. Bartowski, you are asking me to break a rule, a very good rule that is in place for very important reasons. You should know that is something I wouldn't agree to do lightly. So, if I do agree to this, I will expect something in return. I want a much higher level of conduct from you. You will take our meetings seriously, act with the proper amount of decorum, and I will be addressed as ma'am. Are we understood?"

Chuck swallowed nervously though his smile was still in place. "Yes, Ma'am." He tried diligently to stop but he could hardly contain his excitement at the possibilities.

The song ended and General Beckman and Chuck made their way back to the table. As they approached the table, Chuck felt a vibration in his pocket and immediately remembered he'd forgotten to text Sarah back earlier. _'Crap! It's not like she wasn't nervous too. At least, I think she was . . .'_ He got his answer when he read the text.

_Chuck, are you okay? Why haven't you answered me?_

Yep, she was definitely nervous too. Instead of texting back, he decided to call. He slid his phone back into his pocket and escorted General Beckman back to the table. He pulled out her chair. As she sat, he pushed the chair in with impeccable timing. "Excuse me, General. I have a call to make."

*******************

Grace pulled John out to dance with a smile, much to the dismay of all the patrons around. They'd all thought he was here with Mary-Beth but if they thought about it, he'd stayed next to Grace for the majority of the night. She was the one who had been introducing him to all the family members.

Grace and John had gotten caught up in their own little world, not realizing people were staring. Well, Casey noticed but he didn't feel threatened so he chose not to pay attention. But Grace could still feel the hum of readiness coursing through his body. The song was fast paced, a 'clubbing' song so to speak. John wasn't too confident as it had been a while since he'd danced and he'd never really danced like _that_ but Grace was smiling and laughing so he couldn't help but share in a good time even if it meant making a fool out of himself.

He didn't know why but he'd never felt a stronger conviction about someone as he does about Grace. When it came to Ilsa, he'd had his doubts in regards to her true intentions. Not with him or toward him. He was certain those were honest but her work . . . after learning she worked for the French Government some of her actions made so much more sense to him. Like how she'd never asked for any details about his past or how she'd always be in the same place as him. He was sure she didn't believe his cover job either. It was unspoken knowledge between them.

The music changed to a song appropriate for a slow dance, something John was much more comfortable with. He may not be the world's greatest dancer but he knew the steps to classic dances. It was, after all, something he had to learn how to do when taking the seduction classes. Their bodies swayed in tandem as Casey led Grace across the floor in a sensuous rhythm.

Grace's eyes lit up in surprise at this new found ability of his. She was a little saddened that she wasn't any better at this since she'd stepped on his toes several times already. "You're pretty good at this whole dancing thing there, John Casey," she said, a breathy quality to her voice. Whether it be from the dancing or the man, you'd never know.

John gave her a satisfied grin. As he pushed her out in a spin, he said, "You're not so bad yourself."

Grace bit her lip with a smile, "Well, my name may be Grace but I wasn't particularly blessed in that department. I've stepped on your toes more times than I care to count, I'm sure."

He lifted the corner of his lip with a light grunt, "Anh, I can take it." He spun her out again and pulled her back tight, "Besides, you're holding your own." She smiled sheepishly at that as she followed where ever John wanted to lead. All around, they started to hear the conversations next to them, the murmurs going through the crowd. The comments of, 'I didn't know she had it in her,' or 'poor schmuck is getting beat up by graceless Grace,' or the one that really took the cake and from Grace's ex-fiancé of all people and he didn't even say anything. He simply laughed at the notion of Grace with another man, like he was so important in her life that he'd left her completely destroyed and the idea that any other man had a shot with her was preposterous.

Try as she might, she couldn't completely hide how saddened she was by the opinion some of her family members had about her. She'd done a pretty good job of ignoring their comments so far, but there is only so much one person can take. Not all of them were so snobbish or arrogant, but there was a reason it'd been a while since she'd seen this side of the family. She loved them but sometimes that just wasn't a good enough reason to stay around someone. She was afraid she'd never be anything but a charity case in their eyes considering her parents and former fiancé. Those things were out of her control though. She couldn't make someone want to be with her who didn't, she couldn't fix what happened to her parents.

As John dipped Grace, he watched her face fall with each comment, though she tried diligently to hide it. He wasn't sure what to do. He'd gladly beat every single one of them to a pulp but that probably wasn't the best course of action. But what could he say? Is there anything he could say? She was a good person, better than most, and she didn't deserve to be treated in such a way. He pulled her back to her own two feet but didn't move to continue the dance. Grace wouldn't meet his eyes. "Grace?" he whispered in hopes that she'll look at him.

She swallowed and timidly looked up at him, "I'm sor-"

"Don't apologize for them," he interrupted, "They're not worth it." She shouldn't have to apologize for them or even feel like she needs to in the first place. He didn't know what else to say. But he thought of something to do that, with any luck, would make her feel better. He dipped his head and ever so tenderly placed his lips on hers in a slow gentle kiss.

Grace tensed at the unexpected contact. A thrill ran through her body at the feelings elicited by the innocuous act. She never realized something so simple could be so immensely satisfying. But then she realized why he was doing it. It was a pity kiss. Yet another person to add to the list of people that thought she was a charity case.

John pulled back a few seconds after the kiss began and rested his forehead against hers. It would be best not to get carried away when he hadn't expected to do that tonight, nor had he expected to enjoy it so much. It was short but it was worth it. He couldn't explain this feeling he felt of wanting to protect Grace from everything. Very few people have ever caused that immediate reaction out of him. Only one, in fact. And there was nothing he could do about her situation but he could do something about Grace's. It's ironic that the two people who were never intimidated by him and just accepted him for who he was are the two people he wanted to protect most. He pulled back to look at her face, "What do you say we get out of here?"

Grace nodded and let him lead her by the hand outside but never looked at him. Once they had made it outside, she let go of his hand under the pretense of removing her shoes. There was no one to perform for out here and she could walk faster without them. She dangled the shoes from her fingers and crossed her arms protectively over her chest. She hadn't expected him to kiss her or try to fix her image in the eyes of her family. It wasn't his job to do that. And out of pity no less. It couldn't have been because he wanted to. It had to be because he felt sorry for her.

John walked silently next to her with his hands in his pockets. If he didn't before, he definitely thought he'd made a mistake now. He didn't mean to make her uncomfortable. He just wanted to . . . well, he wasn't exactly sure. Make her feel better was one way to end that sentence. Even just leaving it at 'he wanted to' would be enough. They arrived to the car without a peep spoken. He opened her door for her. She silently sat down in the passenger seat, lost in her own thoughts. John closed the door and let out a breath as he ran a hand through his hair, moving to his side of the car. _'Moron!'_ he chided himself. _'What were you thinking?'_ He was sure she liked him though. So what happened? Had he misinterpreted that signs that poorly? He knew he liked her more than he should admit.

The drive back to Grace's was made in an awkward silence, not even the radio was turned on for ambient noise. The silence was deafening, only broken up by the sound of the engine. Both adults were left to their own thoughts. Grace's being, 'why?' and John's being, 'crap.' Every so often, John would look at Grace out of the corner of his eye but Grace's attention remained on her feet. Her legs were locked at the ankle and her arms were still crossed, an undeniably closed off stance, that's for sure.

John pulled into a parking spot at Grace's apartment. He put the car in park and shut it off. The quiet dragged for another moment before he shook his head and said, "I'm sorry."

Grace didn't acknowledge his comment, only quietly asking, "Why did you do it? I didn't ask you to appease my family."

"I didn't do it to appease your family. I wanted . . ." He turned as best he could to look at her in his seat, "I wanted to and I should have asked. I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable. It won't happen again."

That wasn't what she'd been expecting him to say. "What?" she asked shocked by his admission. "It won't happen again?" He voice rose at the end. _'Whoops.' _She hadn't meant to say that. John cast her a perplexed look at the comment. Grace brought her hands up to the sides of her face as she explained, "John, in the two years you've been coming to the diner, I've thought about kissing you more times than I care to admit." She waived her hands up and dropped them down to her sides, "Call it some stupid infatuation or whatever but I've had this stupid school-girl crush on you for a long time." She rested her elbow against the door and cradled her head. "I never dreamt in a million years you'd ever want to have anything to do with me. And then you stayed with me when I found out about my grandma and it only grew. And then you agreed to come today and you've been nothing but perfect even when learning I was nothing but a mess, I just . . . I thought you kissed me because you felt sorry for me." Grace kept her focus out the windshield as she confessed her feelings embarrassedly.

John reached out and put his hand overtop hers that was resting on her seat, "I don't feel sorry for you, Gracie. I wanted to say something to make you feel better because you don't deserve to be treated that way. But words aren't a strength for me. I grunt." Grace smiled and let out a small laugh. "So I did something- the wrong something. And I don't think you're a mess. I haven't found one thing I don't like about you so far. But my life isn't-" he rethought that word, "hasn't-" and reconsidered it again, "_doesn't_ allow for me to think like that about people so I keep my distance but there is just something about you . . . I don't know."

'_So he did want to kiss me but he can't have a romantic interest in someone? I'm confused.'_ Grace looked over to him as she nervously rubbed her right hand over her mouth. She should respect his wishes and not push for anything. She wasn't entirely sure she could fit something like that into her life anyway but she wanted him in her life in some capacity. Well she could fit it. It was just if she was willing to try to fit it. "So what do we do now?"

He focused on their hands as he thought for a moment. Getting involved may not be the best idea now. His life is too dangerous to bring anything serious into it. And he should probably talk to the General. It wasn't against protocol to date a civilian but it was frowned upon. Although, it could help with his cover. "Can we start out as friends?" he asked, sticking his hand out for her to shake, though he was scared as hell to realize he wanted more than that after asking the question. _Friends_ might not cut it for her.

"Friends," Grace smiled and shook his hand. It was as good a place to start as any. "Maybe we can see where it leads."

"I'd like that," John said sharing in her smile.

Both of them started moving to get out of the car. She reached for the door knob and pushed the door open a bit. Before exiting, she turned back to him and pointed, a teasing glint in her eye, "But you still owe me stories. Don't think you can get out of it that easy."

He laughed, "I guess that still means we are on for tomorrow night, then?"

Grace nodded, her smile still in place, "Definitely."

They met at the trunk, both considerably more at ease than during the drive. John grabbed the picnic basket and Grace grabbed her flip flops and dropped them to the ground to slip them on. She didn't want to wear her heels anymore and walking through the parking lot barefoot wasn't an option since she knew there was broken glass that had yet to be cleaned up. He walked her up the steps to her door. She slipped the key into the lock and turned. Before entering, she looked up to John to say goodbye. "I had a really great time tonight, familial issues aside," she said with a smile.

John did his usual and grunted with a smile and nod. He leaned down and kissed her on the cheek, realizing afterwards he may have overstepped his bounds. He stepped back but found her smiling softly and he felt himself relax. "Have a good night, Gracie," he said turning to walk down the stairs.

"You too, John." She watched him leave her smile gradually growing into a large grin behind his back. If her reactions to him were any indication, she had a pretty good idea where she wanted things to go _eventually_. She could only hope he felt the same.

For his part, John had a spring to his step that he'd been missing for a long time.

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So there you go. I hope this is kind of what everyone was looking for . . . all comments welcomed- whether you loved it, hated it or didn't care for it, I'm all ears =)


	18. Chapter 18

A/N: Special shout out to NickyR for being the 225th review.

This I'm sure is getting old but I'm sorry once again for the delay. I'm only posting the beginning of this chapter right now because I'm just not satisfied with the later portion but you guys deserve an update. Please don't kill me but hey I think there is a satisfactory ending for a particular question posed last chapter.

Chapter Eighteen

Chuck awoke the next morning with a smile he still couldn't quite manage to get off his face. When he'd gotten home last night, he ducked past Sarah as quickly as possible so he wouldn't have to explain. He had feigned a headache and tiredness, which wasn't necessarily untrue. He was tired and he did have a headache but it was all he could do for those few short moments to hide the grin that had claimed his face all night. She would know something was up if she didn't already and he didn't want to say anything to her about his conversation with Beckman yet. Besides, he needed a chance to settle down. But even if Beckman said yes, he didn't want to say anything until Sarah was ready. She said she wasn't ready and he would give her time. Just knowing that it was allowed to happen would be enough for him until she was ready. Should it be allowed to happen, that is. _'Yeah, Chuck. Don't get your hopes up. Beckman could still say no.'_

He didn't want to dwell on negativity though. Instead, he stood from bed and went to the adjoining bathroom to shower and change for the day but his last thought had the desired sobering effect of removing his smile. Last night, all he'd thought about was how awesome it would be to actually be allowed to be with Sarah if she wanted. He was fairly sure she did but still . . . he had his doubts. Once under the warm spray of the shower and out of his oblivion of happiness, Chuck could feel the wicked creep of his lingering headache crawling its way over his head. He groaned and brought his hands up to massage the back of his neck and base of his skull. His hands slowly followed the path of his headache as he worked to somehow relieve himself of the pending migraine. The heat of the water was not contributing to helping him feel better. He sighed and dropped his hands, turning the water to a cooler temperature to finish his shower.

He toweled off and brushed his teeth before changing into jeans and a t-shirt then making his way to the front room. He'd kept the lights off the whole time in hopes of keeping his headache to a minimum so when he rounded the corner and the room had all the natural lighting that under normal circumstances would be awesome, Chuck faltered and fell into the wall, clamping his hand over his eyes. "Ahh! It's too bright. I'm going back to my room." Tiny flares of pain shot through his head even in the darkness. He fumbled his way to the bed, bumping into the bedside table and knocking a few items to the floor, most notably, his art pad. He crawled into his sanctuary and pulled the pillow over his head, pushing his arms over top in an attempt to block out all light and sound.

Sarah was in his room in no time, "Chuck? Are you alright?" He'd angled himself in such a way that his head was under the pillow furthest from the door and his feet dangled off the edge. Sarah bypassed the items that fell to the floor and eased onto the bed, rubbing her hand across his shoulders. "Chuck?"

"Mm fffnnn," came his mumbled reply.

Sarah leaned down toward his armpit hoping to get him to allow a small hole for her to hear and him to breath. She knew what he said but she wanted to actually hear it, "What was that?"

Chuck shifted on the bed, scooting his head a little lower, "I'm fine. I think I just flashed too much last night."

Sarah could just barely see his lips and was mesmerized by their movement and the sound escaping them. The way the tip of his pink tongue would peek out and caress the bottom of his teeth as he spoke was intoxicating. Her own tongue swept across her teeth involuntarily as she watched. She gulped silently and sat up. Now that he had a hole, there was no reason for her to be so close. _'But, God, do I want to be . . .'_ She took a breath and rubbed his shoulders a bit more, "I'll go get you some medicine and water. Hopefully that will help."

"Hmmm," he moaned his appreciation. In his darkened cocoon he was unaware of her responses to him.

She slithered off the bed as quickly and carefully as possible while she fought the blush overcoming her body at the sound. _'What is with you? Less than a minute in his presence and you're already . . . I don't know what you are but it brings to mind the "c" word.' _She shook her head as she stood to leave. _'It must have something to do with the fact that I was worried he wasn't coming home last night. But he's here, he's safe and I need to get that through my head so I can stop acting so possessive and wanting.' _Before making it completely off the bed, she became distracted by the mess. She knelt to the floor and absentmindedly went about putting the items back on the table. It was only a pencil set, eraser, brush, and a notebook. She gathered up the spread out pencils, putting them back in the box and neatly stacking the eraser and brush on top of it before turning her attention to the notebook.

It wasn't just any notebook, she realized. It was a sketch diary. Some on the pages were clipped together like he was marking a space for his current drawing, enticing her to take a quick look. _'Don't look, Walker. It's not yours,_' her conscience warned. Her brow crinkled and lips tightened, fighting to just put it back on the table, except her curiosity got the better of her.

As she moved to open to the page, Chuck asked, "Are you still in here?" He moved his head out and squinted at her.

"Ah-" Sarah looked up from the notebook, "yeah." She looked down straightening the pages of the notebook, putting it back on the table without looking in it. "Yeah, just ah- cleaning up the stuff that fell off your table. I'll go get you that medicine." She stood and moved to the door when he spoke again.

"Thanks, Sarah," his eyes had closed and he smiled in the general direction he thought she was, "You always take good care of me."

She rested her hand gently on the door jam as she looked back at him to listen to what he said. She licked her lips and then bit on her bottom lip before looking away. She walked off silently, pretending she didn't hearing what he'd said. Once in the kitchen, she pulled down a glass from the cupboard and filled it with water. Since he hadn't eaten yet, she toasted a couple slices of bread and put butter on them. She took out the migraine medicine and laid it on the plate, making her way back to his bedroom.

The notebook seemed to call for her attention as she entered the room. She looked to Chuck and then back to the notebook, and then to Chuck and back again. She shook her head and tried telling herself again, _'It's none of your business. He doesn't even draw anymore.'_ She rolled eyes and looked to Chuck again, finding him with his arms crossed beneath the pillow, hugging it to him. He was facing the wall instead of the door this time, avoiding the light. Sarah walked widely over to that side, staying away from the notebook's siren call at all costs.

As if he sensed her presence, his eyes opened as she knelt down to face him. He smiled and she gave him a small one in return. "Here you go. I brought you some toast too," she said putting the water on the nightstand.

He propped up a little on his elbow to take the plate from her. "Thank you," he said picking up a piece and taking a bite.

She smiled again and settled back against the wall, straightening her legs out in front of her. Mid-shin down went under the bed and she rested her hands between her crossed legs. She stayed quiet while he ate.

Chuck looked at Sarah and pushed the other piece of toast to her, "You can have this piece."

"Oh, that's okay," she said rubbing her hands together, "I made it for you."

"I insist. Besides, I don't like eating in front of people."

She ducked her head and reached out for it, "Okay." They ate in silence. Once Chuck had finished his piece, he took the medicine Sarah brought for him. Being out of the light and having something to eat and drink made him feel a lot better than before. Sarah finished off her piece and looked up at Chuck, "So, what did you learn last night?"

Chuck bit the inside of his cheek to keep from smiling. He'd learnt a lot last night. Some of it he would rather he never knew in the first place, some of it he wouldn't share. But the part that he knew she was referring to caused his mood to sober, "Well, I know why Beckman is here. She has a granddaughter in the hospital that's dying. I don't know from what but the way it sounded, I think its cancer. Did you know her son died almost two years ago, too?"

Sarah shook her head, "No, I didn't know that. I didn't even know she had a son. That Trisha lady must have been his wife. You said she was her daughter-in-law."

"Yeah. Trisha used to work for this company called NRAD, Neuroasis Research and Development. They had a project in Afghanistan that focused on the Central Nervous System. They said it was to help people with bipolar disorders, amnesia, stuff like that, but Trisha found files indicating it was for something else. From the reports she couldn't tell what it was actually doing but it made her pay closer attention to the results. She ended up contacting the Government after finding out that they started experimenting on the Prisoner's of War from Desert Storm. Beckman was a Lieutenant General at the time so she was assigned to head up the investigation discretely. She sent in Casey and her son, David, to be Trisha's handlers. Did you know Beckman's known Casey since he was like eight? Crazy, huh?"

"That's a long time."

"I know, right?" he said smiling. "Anyway, they worked undercover for two years learning everything they could about the company- its employees, all of its research, financial documents, everything- before being able to disable the cell. David retired from field work after that mission and Casey went on to get his reputation as a cold school killer. A couple of years ago, one of the Doctors resurfaced that they thought had died. David and Casey went after him when the Doctor threatened Trisha and Eve." He paused for a moment before saying, "David was killed." Chuck saddened at the thought of Casey watching his best friend die. Chuck saw who had killed David but that was information he wouldn't share out of respect for Casey so he changed topics, "Did you know NRAD's research paved a lot of the way for the Intersect project? Their research on brain functionality was quite ingenious even if they were terrorists. It was a hard choice to take them down because other divisions in the company were doing a lot of good, too. NRAD did a huge cover up and a lot of people became very angry at the United States for shutting the company down. It put a bunch of people out of jobs and the people NRAD helped were not happy to see them go either."

"I bet." Sarah fiddled with the seam on her jeans while she thought. _'So Beckman is here because of her granddaughter. That's really sad to out live not only your son but maybe even your grandchild too and for things you can't control.'_ Sarah bit her lip, starting to feel out of place in the room. He hadn't stepped so much as a foot into her room since the first night they stayed here. "Is there anything else?"

'_Yes,'_ Chuck thought but bit his tongue, "No."

Sarah nodded slowly and started rising to her feet, "Well, then I'll let you get some rest."

"Sarah, wait," Chuck reached out and grabbed her wrist before she could get too far away, "I forgot to tell you something."

She looked down to Chuck and waited. He let go of her wrist and scooted to the other pillow, straightening out his body, a silent invitation for Sarah to lie down. She took the invite if only to stay near him for a little while longer. For some reason, she still had an irrational fear that Beckman was going to take him and was just biding her time until Sarah wasn't prepared for it. She lay down on her side so she could face him.

Chuck was surprised she'd acknowledged his invitation and watched as she settled across from him. The smile he'd kept hidden slowly made its way back to his face as he met her eyes. "Hi."

"Hi," Sarah said as she smiled back. When he didn't say anything further but kept smiling, her tone turned playful, "Was that all you forgot to tell me?"

Chuck shook his head, the movement causing a little pain but he didn't care. Sarah stayed. His eyes lit up, "Last night, at the ball, you wouldn't believe who I ran into . . ."

"Who?"

"This guy I went to high school with, Gavin DeHaun. He played the music last night but that's not what's interesting. What's interesting is that he is currently in a relationship with none other than Carina Hansen."

Sarah's eyes widened, "Really? I didn't know she was back in town."

"Yeah, apparently Gavin's manager, Richard, is being investigated by the DEA in connection with a Columbian Drug Cartel. They suspect he is transporting drugs for them. Anyway, Gavin gave me his card. He wants to catch up but I wasn't sure how to proceed considering Carina's involvement. She kind of already indicated that she knew I was dating you."

Sarah shook her head, "Of course she did." _'That Carina . . .'_ "Well, I don't see the harm if you want to catch up with him, unless you don't want to."

Chuck scrunched his lips together and thought for a moment. "I haven't decided yet, I don't think. We have a . . . history of . . . let's just say creative differences. Plus when he came to visit me at Stanford, I found out he was one of Jill's extracurriculars."

Sarah hummed. God, she loathed Jill. She really messed with Chuck's heart and got under Sarah's skin like no one else could. _'Traitorous Bitch.'_ If Jill ever showed her sorry face again, Sarah would shoot first and ask question later . . . alright so she wouldn't but only because of Chuck. He wouldn't like that too much even though Jill had betrayed him twice. "Did you ever draw a picture of Jill?"

Chuck looked at her oddly, "Where did _that_ come from?" Sarah just gave him a stony glare. Chuck reciprocated the glare and said, "No. I didn't. Why does it matter?" Sarah looked away from him because she didn't want to answer the question. Truthfully, she didn't know where it came from. "Answer me, Sarah. Why does it matter?"

"Because you . . ." Sarah took a calming breath and looked at him again, "you're good at that and it just seems like something a boyfriend would do for his girlfriend. But what would I know? I'm bad a relationships. I didn't mean to make it seem like such a big deal but that _woman-_" she said angrily, clenching her jaw and fist, "bothers me."

Chuck laughed a little at Sarah's reaction. Jill had tried to kill her so he wasn't so surprised by Sarah's feelings. "That is the understatement of the century."

Sarah rolled her eyes at him, "Chuck-"

He raised his hand to stop her, smile still in place, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you mad. How 'bout a new topic?"

Sarah shook her head and smiled. Significantly calmer, she quietly suggested a new topic, "Why did you stop?"

Chuck couldn't quite hear her and shifted closer, "What was that?"

"Drawing," she said more loudly, "why did you stop drawing?"

Chuck groaned and rolled to look at the ceiling. He kept silent, not answering to save his life. _'I suggest a new topic and _that's_ what she comes up with?'_ That wasn't something he talked about. It happened a long time ago and it doesn't matter.

"Chuck-"

"I heard you," he said annoyed. "I don't want to talk about it."

"Why not?"

He lifted his head and turned to her, "Because, Sarah, I just don't. Okay?" At her hurt expression, Chuck sighed. It wasn't her fault she was curious. She wouldn't have known about it if it hadn't been for him taking her to move his stuff from storage. See, this was the kind of thing he would talk about with her if she were actually his girlfriend. _'And she's not . . . but she could be . . .' _He removed as much agitation as he could from his voice when he spoke, "Look, it's just- it doesn't matter. It's something I used to do. After my mom left . . . I didn't care for it. I liked doing it but really the only reason I did it was because I got to spend time with my mom. I know I was good at it but I wasn't passionate about it, not like she wanted me to be." He shook his head regretfully, "I used to think if I had just even pretended to care about it as much as she wanted me to she wouldn't have left. It always felt like it was my fault, you know? I know it wasn't now but what was I supposed to think when I was ten?"

Sarah kept quiet listening to him speak. She felt bad she'd asked. Clearly it wasn't something he was open to just telling anyone but it made her feel special knowing that he'd shared it with her. As usual though, she didn't have words to tell him to make him feel better so she kept her mouth shut.

"Now I just draw people I love but those times are few and far between."

Sarah nodded. They kept surrounded by silence before Sarah said softly, "Sorry I asked."

Chuck looked over to her, smiling sadly, "Its okay. I don't blame you for wondering. It's my fault anyways. I kind of opened the topic of conversation." When she didn't say anything further, Chuck sighed and shut his eyes.

"Get some rest," Sarah said reaching out to brush his bangs away from his face, "I'll make some real breakfast." Without thinking through her actions, she leaned over and pressed her lips to his forehead before rolling off the bed and walking out of the room.

Chuck watched her go as best he could. He stared over his shoulder at the door for a few moments before smiling largely and hugging the pillow again. _'Best not to look too much into that. Yesterday was just a stressful day. But take it for what its worth.'_

****************

John woke up the next morning feeling pretty dang good. He slept in a bit longer than usual deciding to finally cash in on the advantages of being on vacation.

Trisha was up and cooking breakfast. When she heard him coming downstairs, she smiled and asked, "So, how did it go?"

"Always subtle, huh, Trish?" John said, opening the refrigerator and pulling out the orange juice. He grabbed a glass and poured some in.

"Well, I did sort of force you into it."

John looked at her and kept quiet, keeping her guessing. "It was fine," he said with a slight raise of his brow and a hint of a smile, putting away the juice carton.

Trisha smile became even larger with his actions, "Good. I'm glad." She put a plate of food in front of him, knowing that's all she would get out of him. It didn't get past her that he didn't keep his usual routine today. After knowing John for so long, you learn to look for the little things rather than a monologue. "When would you like to go to the hospital today?"

John cut up his omelet before taking a taste. "Mm." He moved it around his plate some more and said, "Food, shower, out the door in twenty minutes."

"Great. I'll go get ready." Trisha turned on her heel and exited up the stairs.

As John was finishing up his omelet, his door was knocked on. He put down his fork and wiped his face with his napkin. He expected the General would be over soon to go to the hospital with them. He opened the door for her to come in, "General."

"Colonel," she said as she stepped into the apartment. She looked around a little and turned to him, "Is Trisha around?"

"She's upstairs in the shower," he said locking the door, "Have you had breakfast yet, Ma'am?"

Diane rolled her eyes and looked at him incredulously, "John, I'm staying with the most hospitable person under the sun and you have the gall to ask if I've eaten anything?" John shrugged and she continued, "I have had breakfast. Ellie is quite the cook."

He grunted, "My favorite part of this whole assignment."

"I can imagine," she said flatly, moving to sit on the couch. "Anyway, we need to talk while Trisha isn't here."

He sat next to her in his favorite chair and waited for her to begin.

The General turned and looked at him for a moment before speaking, "When were you going to tell me how compromised Agent Walker is, Colonel?"

He exhaled and leaned over to rest his forearms against his knees. He knew this was coming. He better tread carefully so Walker doesn't get reassigned, "What do you mean?"

"Oh, come now, John. Even you aren't that dense."

He nodded and grunted, "It hasn't affected any of our missions." Now was his moment of truth. Though he should still ere on the side of caution, he had to defend his silence and his partner, "Walker is the best damn partner I've had since David, even if she is a CIA skirt. Forgive me for wanting to keep around someone I trust to keep me alive. Walker is a lot of things but you can't deny her loyalty to this team. She is the best in her field and this assignment deserves no less than that. Bartowski screws up sometimes but he has gotten better. Saved our necks more than I'd care to admit, too. I know their friendship is outside the boundaries of protocol but we do good work together, as a team."

The General looked at Casey skeptically, "You're sure it's just a 'friendship' and nothing more?"

John grunted with a nod in the affirmative, "Yes, Ma'am."

"How are you so sure, Colonel?"

"Because Bartowski wouldn't be so annoyingly on edge all the time. He'd have some ridiculous grin all over his face that would be a dead give away."

Then the General did something John didn't expect her to do. She let out a chuckle and smiled, "You're probably right." She paused before continuing, "He also wouldn't have gone out of his way to ask for permission to court Agent Walker if he was already getting what he wanted."

Casey's face dropped at the revelation and anger bubbled to the surface. "He did what?!" He mentally reprimanded Chuck even if Casey couldn't help but be somewhat proud of Chuck's persistence in going after what he wanted._ 'Of all the asinine things to do, Bartowski!' _

"You heard correctly. Last night he asked if there could be any chance of me allowing a relationship to occur."

When the General wasn't acting like it was the most absurd thing she'd ever heard, even showing a little smile at Bartowski's nerve, Casey groaned, "What did you say?"

"That I'd think about it in exchange for more professionalism out of him. He made a very convincing argument that the Intersect may not work as well without Agent Walker around as he'd be depressed. He said that if his only options were a bunker or killed, why couldn't he have some happiness while he was out?"

"Of course he would use his lady feelings . . ."

"Oh, speaking of 'lady feelings,'" Diane said, "how did your date go? That Grace is a very nice woman."

"She is," he agreed quickly. "It was fine. Better than going to a Governor's Ball."

"Oh, I don't know about that, Colonel. This one wasn't so bad. A very eye opening experience, if I do say so myself. Mr. Bartowski is quite the gentleman."

Casey grunted looked at her knowingly, "Annoying isn't it, General?"

"What is?"

"How difficult it is not to like him."

Diane nodded in agreement, "Yes . . . yes it is difficult." As silence fell over the room, John got up to clean his plate, rinsing it off and putting it in the dishwasher. After a moment alone in thought, Diane turned to him, "They have an interesting dynamic, Bartowski and Walker. Very symbiotic in nature, very in tuned. What do you think?"

He rested his hands on the counter and thought about how honestly he should answer because his honest opinion could very easily get Walker reassigned and Bartowski put underground and a dishonorable discharge for him. "I think if Walker were to go, Chuck wouldn't be the only person destroyed."

"Elaborate, Colonel." It was very important for her to know where he stood on all this. It affects him too. His opinion could be a very significant decisive factor in her answer to Chuck. He'd done a lot last night to persuade her to his thinking but it wasn't just about Chuck and Sarah. Much more was at stake but if John didn't think it'd be a problem then a lot of her worries could be relaxed and she would feel more comfortable.

'_Good. That means I can speak freely.'_ A little more at ease with giving his opinion, he picked up a rag and wiped off the counter as he replied, "General, when we started this assignment, Walker and I both were going down a destructive path. Bartowski kept two of this Nation's finest Agents from succumbing to that destruction, and in return, the United States is safer for every mission we accomplish successfully. The only person getting nothing but a great imposition from the deal is Bartowski. I think that for all the sacrifices he's made, he deserves a chance. Besides, Walker deserves him. She hasn't has a lot of breaks in life and Bartowski may be her just due although she may not take the chance."

Diane nodded and smiled tightly, "After all I've seen, I think she might."

So that settled it. General Diane Beckman was going to give Chuck Bartowski and Sarah Walker their chance, though she resolved that if it were to cause any problems with the assignment, that would be the end of it and they'd have no one to blame for their unhappiness but themselves.

*************************************

So, well that's it for now. More to come and hopefully soon. Thanks for reading =)


	19. Chapter 19

A/N: Hey everyone. Sorry it's been so long. A lot has happened this month. Some of it good, some of it not so good but all of it was turning a page. If you'd like to know more than that I'll tell ya but not here. But the biggest problem was my mom got rid of our home phone line and it totally messed with the internet. But it's all good now. Anyways, on with the show . . . oh yeah and I don't own Chuck =)

Chapter Nineteen

Eve rested on the bed, flipping through the different channels in search of something to watch. As always with early morning TV, there wasn't much on except the news, morning talk shows, and soap operas. The last one was officially off the list of things to watch. _'I have enough drama in my life. I don't need to watch other people's fake crap. And the news is out. Too depressing.'_ That left her with morning talk shows. She left it on one of the local ones but frankly she wasn't really paying attention. Her mind was plagued with thoughts of yesterday.

She hadn't said much since her conversation with Ethan. He was right. She needed to decide how much fight she had left. She needed to be honest with herself. Maybe some part of her really did fear the idea of what came after life. Everyone goes eventually but she was having a hard time understanding why it has to be from cancer for her. If she was just fated to die of cancer from the beginning then why did she have to survive it the first time? It should have just killed her, not teased her with a false sense of hope for something more. The fact that she had beaten it the first time made her believe she could do it this time too. But to what end? Would it just come back in another couple of years to taunt her again? She definitely didn't want to do this a third time round and that had nothing to do with whether she thought she could beat it that time too. Once was more than enough.

A knock sounded on the door as her mother pushed it open for everyone to enter the room. "Good morning."

A shrill of anxiety passed through her. She hadn't expected them so soon. Eve smiled, though not as brightly as usual, "Hi, guys." Her focus remained on the television, feigning an interest in what was happening on screen. In reality she was taking a moment to box up all thoughts of yesterday, tucking them back into the deep recesses of her mind until she could be alone with them again. She had every intention of sharing those thoughts with her family but not now. For now she wanted a little more time with them before opening that can of worms. At the commercial break, Eve looked at the new occupants in the room. "Well, I officially say morning TV sucks," she said shutting off the television. "I wish it was Saturday so we could have cartoons on."

Diane balked at that and then shook her head, "Still a child in so many ways."

"Yep," she smirked, "Adulthood is just a state of mind. I may be forced to grow up but that doesn't mean I have to think like one all the time," she said teasingly. "Let's do something else. Any suggestions?"

"You could watch one of the movie channels," Trisha said.

"Right but after the tenth time of watching the same movie, it gets kinda old. Plus," she looked to Casey, "I'm sure you never thought you'd hear this, Uncle Casey, but I'm getting sick of movies."

Casey grunted, "Finally."

Eve childishly stuck her tongue out at him causing the room to share a laugh. Casey was sure something happened with Eve yesterday. Her behavior seemed normal but forced at the same time. Many years in his career have allowed him to notice when someone was compartmentalizing and truthfully Eve was spectacular at it but there was something amiss. He knew it. Sparing a glance around the room, he realized no one else seemed to notice a difference. Then again, Casey knew Eve on a completely different level than Trisha or Beckman did. That's not to say they didn't know Eve. They did, but Eve was his . . . '_what did she call it again? Kindred spirit?' _

Eve caught Casey's glance and immediately knew he was aware something was out of the ordinary. Sometimes it was awesome they knew each other so well and other times- like now- it stunk worse than road kill on a highway. _'Wow, Eve. That's a morbid comparison.' _ Her only saving grace about the times it stunk was that Uncle Casey knew when not to say something. At least she could be left to her own devices for a while now.

Being that no one offered any further suggestions, Trisha tried again, "Why don't we go for a walk? It looks like a nice day outside. Fresh air could do a world of good."

Eve smiled largely at her mother. She never wanted Eve to overexert herself so it meant a lot to Eve that she would make such a suggestion. _'She could be full of surprises sometimes.'_ Eve nodded, "That's a great idea, Mom." _'I can choose to make today better than yesterday.' _

"Well, why don't I get some snacks from the cafeteria and we can have an impromptu picnic?" Diane offered. She'd been surprised by Trisha's suggestion as well but they could use some lightness in their day. _'Try for some fun . . .'_

'_Two picnics in two days?' _Casey shrugged, "I'll go get the blanket."

Both Diane and Casey left to gather the necessary items, leaving mother and daughter alone. Something felt off today. Trisha couldn't quite put her finger on it but she felt as if this day would be significant somehow. If it was good or bad, she didn't know but she hoped for the best. She looked over her daughter for any signs of change. She noted the weariness in her eyes and posture. Her skin was still pale and she looked thinner than before. The bright side was that her burns weren't nearly as bad anymore so she could move a lot easier. Nothing appeared to be off with Eve but Trisha felt odd. Call it mother's intuition, but she just had to ask, "Is everything alright, Baby?"

Eve held a far off look as she replied to her mother without looking, "I want everything to stay just as it is right now."

Trisha's brow furrowed, confused by Eve's answer, "What?"

"Nothing. I just- I want today to be . . . perfect."

Trisha wiggled in her seat, thinking. Eve didn't like this question but she was acting strangely now so Trisha couldn't help asking, "Are- are you okay, Eve?"

"I'm fine. I really think everything is going to be fine."

With yet another strange response from her child, Trisha leaned over and grasped Eve's head and forced eye contact with her. Eve's hands covered hers as both sets of eyes shifted back and forth, assessing the other. Trisha instantly knew something big was wrong. Eve's eyes held many different emotions but the ones that stuck out most were fear and helplessness.

Eve was having a difficult time hiding everything- because, really, who is capable of keeping news like impending death a secret- and when her mom took hold of her face, she knew she wasn't going to be able to hide it. If she'd just had more time to prepare, more time to put it all away, it might not have been a problem but with such an intense amount of concern coming from her mother and the oddity of the answers she gave, there was absolutely no way Eve could cover it.

"What happened?" Trisha demanded softly.

Eve fought back the tears, "I don't want to say yet. Can't we forget about it for today?"

"Baby, whatever it is, you ca-"

"I need more time!" she interrupted. "That's all I'm asking for." The silence held for a beat before Eve choked out, "Please, Mom? Please." She felt like she needed one more day where they didn't know, where they could be together without _this_ over their heads.

Trisha swallowed hard, fighting against her own tears. She dropped her hands from Eve's face and rested back in the chair, looking away so she could regain some semblance of control. There were thousands of thoughts running through her head of what might be wrong but she couldn't find it in her to argue with Eve. Trisha knew Eve liked her privacy, she also knew Eve always needed to work out a problem for herself in her mind before talking it over. Sometimes she would do little experiments along the way but she would never come out and say it. It frustrated the hell out of Trisha, but that was how Eve processed things and a large part of why Eve was so stubborn once she made up her mind. She sniffled and wiped away a single tear while licking her lips. "Okay," she said, her voice cracking with emotion. She swallowed again in a vain attempt to clear her throat and tried again, "Okay. You win." She took a deep breath and smiled as best she could, her voice coming in stronger, "This conversation never happened."

"Thanks, Mom," Eve smiled back sadly. She took a breath and her smile became much more genuine as she felt a spark of her old self coming back when she added, "Have I told you lately just how awesome you are?"

Trisha laughed once and nodded, brushing away Eve's bangs. She sighed, "What am I going to do with you, child?"

Eve chuckled a bit at her mother's reaction but left the question unanswered. Eve sat up and swung her legs over the side of the bed. She took a moment before getting up so she didn't get as queasy. Pushing up to her feet and holding the bed for support, she adjusted to the unfamiliar weight over her legs and feet. Her mother moved to stand beside her, a symbolism not lost on Eve. She looked at her mom and smiled. In a moment that had become far too rare for the pair, Eve wrapped an arm around her mother's waist and leaned into her, surprising Trisha. "Let's go," she said.

Trisha smiled and brought her arm up to Eve shoulders, remembering duly to mind the burns. They walked out side by side into the hospital in time to see Diane and John coming back with their pillage. Trisha leaned to Eve's ear and whispered, "You know, for the longest time I didn't know your grandmother was that short."

Eve laughed heartily at her mother's comment, causing Trisha to giggle in return. While what she said wasn't all that funny, it felt wonderful to both women to laugh. Aside from which, it was pretty funny to see Grams walking next to Uncle Casey. The man towered over Grams and yet she was still able to command authority. Plus the laughter was a nice way to move away from their previous conversation. Eve could feel the boxed up thoughts sliding into place out of mind.

Diane looked at the pair sharing a laugh as the groups walked toward each other. It was good to see Eve walking again, but for the first time Diane really noticed how much weight Eve had lost. Eve looked to be standing on toothpicks that used to be the legs of a muscular gymnast. _'Well, with time, Eve will regain that.'_ "What's funny?"

"Oh, nothing, Grams. We just felt like laughing. Right, Mom?"

"Right," Trisha agreed with a smile. She turned to the other two, noting their skeptical look and changed the subject, "Shall we?" Trisha and Eve walked past Casey and Diane snickering conspiratorially to each other.

*********************

Once a real breakfast had been finished and Chuck had started feeling better, Sarah and Chuck found themselves in front of the Wii boxing each other. After finishing the third round, Sarah threw her controller forcefully onto the couch. "This is ridiculous!" she cried in frustration. Chuck had just beaten her- again. Super-spy Sarah Walker cannot beat computer nerd Chuck Bartowski in a simple boxing match on a mind-numbing video game. "I should be good at this!" She crossed her arms and paced, focusing on regaining her calm. While she was glad he wasn't letting her win- that would be more infuriating than loosing- she still was angry she wasn't better.

Chuck put the game on pause, knowing better than to stay in her way, he left for the kitchen and got her a glass of water. _'Occupy her hands with something- not that it matters- while I try to calm her down.'_ He quietly walked back in to find her caught in a staring match with the TV screen as if willing General Beckman to interrupt even if it wouldn't happen since she is physically in Los Angeles and they'd watched the trio leave. He extended out his peace offering to her with a look of apology.

Sarah huffed and her shoulders dropped as she fixed her gaze on the glass instead. Chuck lifted the glass a little and smiled. She pierced her lips together using all her training not to smile back. His small effort to make her feel better was wearing down her defenses to stay angry. Not at him, just the situation. Her shoulders were feeling the tension of her efforts and when he lifted the glass just a touch more and smiled a bit wider, brow lifting a bit, she deflated. It was too cute not too. "Fine," she grumbled, still trying to hide her smile. She turned around and took a big drink, letting her smile come out some now that he couldn't see. Once the glass was placed on the table, she shook her hands by her sides, letting out a sigh and schooling her features. She faced him again with mock irritation, "Again?"

"Has anyone ever told you that you are _extremely_ competitive?" She gave him a less than pleased glare and Chuck sighed. He put his hands on her shoulders, rubbing to ease the tension, "Relax, Sarah. This is only your first time playing, and, like what, your third time ever playing a video game in your life? You already last longer than Morgan-"

"That's supposed to make me feel better?"

He rolled his eyes and ignored her jive at his friend, "I'm just saying I have more experience at video games than you do and you're learning quickly. It won't be long before you're kicking my ass at this too. In all honesty, I'm lucky it's not real boxing. I'd be in for a world of trouble if it were."

Sarah ducked her head sheepishly at his words. His confidence in her was a lot more than she had in herself sometimes. She didn't comment but bit her lip and questioned him with her eyes, _'Please?'_

Chuck sighed. "Come on. Let's go," he said rolling his eyes. He grabbed his controller and unpaused the game, then handed Sarah her controller. "Would you like to learn a few cheats for video-game boxing?"

Sarah smiled playfully as her fingers gripped the plastic instrument. "Why, Chuck Bartowski? You're cheating?" she asked with fake incredulity.

"That's the lingo, Sarah, the lingo. I don't cheat." Chuck shrugged, "Besides, it's not cheating if you learn them yourself. Going online or buying a book- that's cheating. I'm just sharing my deep wealth of useless knowledge in the realm of virtual reality. Totally different."

"Po-tay-toe, po-tah-toe," Sarah laughed as he shook his head. "I'd like to try it a few more times myself and see if I can't figure it out. I think I have an idea."

"Suit yourself."

The couple spent the next hour or two playing against each other. Sarah did finally manage to figure out a few cheats on her own, as well as what she learned from Chuck, and was now able to beat him on occasion. With both on a more level playing ground, the rounds went longer and both had started working up a pretty good sweat. Sarah really got into the activeness this gaming system offered. She wasn't too sure she could sit long enough to learn the other games in his collection though some of the games that had story lines she didn't mind watching Chuck play for a little while.

They decided to call it quits when Morgan called and asked if Chuck wanted to play Call of Duty. Sarah started catching up on some daily chatter, gathering prudent things for Chuck to take a look at- which inevitably would be the majority if not all of it- while he brought his Xbox out so he could play against Morgan online. They thought it best if he viewed the reports in smaller doses between rounds. It was a lot easier than trying to flash on everything all at once, especially considering yesterday. So far there hadn't been much.

Morgan's voice came through the speaker's, _"Hey, you said Sarah was sitting there with you right?"_

Sarah's eyes shifted to the speaker but her head remained down, her hand was suspended in the air holding a paper and pen. "Hi, Morgan. Do I need to leave?"

"_No. I actually wanted to ask you something and I was just making sure you were there still."_

"Okay," she said, a hint of surprise lacing her voice, "What's up?"

"_Well, ever since Friday, Sonia has been going on and on and on about you. You're like her real life superhero, her new obsession. She says she wants to be just like you-"_

"I certainly hope not," she muttered quietly so Morgan wouldn't hear but Chuck did and cast an odd glance her way.

"_-not that you're not awesome, because you are, it's just Sonia is getting quite the imagination about the whole thing. You know how kids can be. Anyway, Sonia is convinced you play the violin so she wants to learn it but Isabel doesn't know what to think. She wanted to know if you actually do play."_

At the mention of a violin, Sarah felt a tremor of guilt pass through her. While she never denied or affirmed if she played to Sonia- she just said she didn't think she was the person in the picture- she wasn't sure how she felt about telling the truth. In her cover as Sarah Walker over the past eleven years, she had used that skill to her advantage on more than one occasion. Even Carina knew about it. And if Chuck decided to meet with this Gavin person who she is supposedly dating, then this ability could be uncovered anyway seeing at Gavin is a musician. Also, if she tells the truth, Chuck might remember her from his drawing and she's not sure how to feel about that. Apparently she wasn't able to convince Sonia it wasn't her, which meant she definitely wouldn't be able to convince Chuck. Instead of answering just yet, needing more time to decide, Sarah deflected, "Sonia really said she wants to be like me?"

Chuck saw the gears rolling in her head and knew she was stalling. He wanted to know the answer to that probably more than Isabel did.

Morgan was unaware of the happenings in Casa Balker and commented, _"Of course she wants to be just like you, Sarah. Most people do. You're like ninja cool."_

Sarah switched her attention to Chuck as she answered, "Wow, I'm up there with ninjas? That's pretty high." She could tell he was trying to stay focused on the game but watching her out of the corner of his eye, waiting for her response.

"_The highest."_ The only things heard for a moment were the sounds of guns and the click of the controller as Chuck and Morgan battled on._ "So do you play?"_

She decided she couldn't lie. Too many things made it so the truth would come out eventually. Her heart pounded loudly in her ears, adrenaline rushing through her blood. Keeping her eyes on Chuck, the timid answer came, "Yes." Chuck's head whipped over to Sarah in shock so fast he might have gotten whiplash and she amended her statement, "I used to anyway. Not so much anymore."

"_Awesome! I'll let her know. Who knows? Maybe Sonia will be a prodigy. Wouldn't that be awesome?"_

Sarah fidgeted on the couch, trying hard not to run. "Yeah," she said quietly, "Awesome." She broke eye contact with Chuck as her eyes shifted, reviewing what she just confessed. Why was she letting these things about her past slip? First she tells him how many languages she knew and he didn't even ask for that information. She just gave it. Not to mention her favorite sandwich, the fact that she doesn't like olives, the dancing, the kids, and now he knows about the violin. The other things didn't bother her so much. They were just surface things but the violin . . . the violin was personal. It was something she did before she started conning with her father and changing identities. It was something she did with her given name. She started distracting herself by organizing the files spread open on the coffee table.

He could tell she was panicking. Even though he was thrilled to learn something new about her, he would try desperately not to show it. She would need time. "Morgan, I think that's enough for today. We have to go."

"_Okay,"_ Morgan grumbled in disappointment,_ "but hey, when do you think I get to see your new digs? We need another Morgan night. I'll even bring Anna and sizzling shrimp."_

"We'll talk about it and I'll get back to you. Bye, Morgan."

She didn't want to talk about this. _'What's new?'_ She assumed that's why Chuck stopped playing the game and started deflecting again, "You should take a look over these. Let me know if I need to report anything to Beckman." She stood up to leave.

Chuck tried to intercept and block her path to tell her she did need to say anything, but she was too quick. "Sarah, wa-"

"Can we talk about this later? I have to think." She walked out of room. Realizing she still had the documents, she turned around and shoved them into his chest making another hasty retreat. He was way too close- closer than anyone to date- and she was allowing it to happen. Some small part of her was happy but that part was quickly trampled over by her learned instincts and the agent within. As Sarah shut the door to the office she could feel the fear settling in. She paced in circles around the room, trying desperately to quell her need to run. When she was working cons with her father, they were always in and out before things got too personal. Same with agency missions and Bryce was a surface relationship that both were 'satisfied and comfortable' with. She didn't need to tell him anything and he never asked. They loved each other as they knew how which wasn't actually love at all. But this _thing_ with Chuck, was different somehow. It goes against everything she knows, everything she understands and that made her fight or flight response turn rapidly to flee. Except she couldn't do that this time. She had a job to do, an asset to protect. She would never forgive herself if something happened to him while she was in charge. Where she was now was as far as she could run for the moment. And that knowledge petrified her.

*************

Casey, Eve, Beckman and Trisha had sat underneath a tree in the hospital grounds for a few hours. They shared stories and memories. Things felt relaxed just like Eve wanted for a last day with her family before telling them what she learned. She wouldn't do it until tomorrow after they had this day. She knew Uncle Casey had a dinner tonight celebrating his promotion and she didn't want to ruin that for anyone. No doubt her mother would want to stay with her instead of going if Eve said anything now. "Hey, don't you guys have to get going for your dinner, Uncle Casey? You still have to pick up Grace."

He looked down to his watch and grumbled, "That went by quicker than I thought it would." He looked at Trisha and General Beckman, "If you guys want to stay, I can swing by on my way back to Bartowski's."

"Sure."

John pushed himself up from the ground. In an out of character move, he gave Eve a hug and a kiss on the cheek. "I'll see you tomorrow." He was sad that Eve wouldn't be able to make it to the dinner tonight even though it wasn't anyone's fault. It just didn't seem like it would be as much of a celebration without her there.

Eve copied his actions, drawing comfort from his embrace as well as giving encouragement, "Congratulations, Uncle Casey. You deserve it. I'm so happy for you."

He pulled back and cupped her face as if memorizing the moment. "Love you, Newt," he mumbled into her hair for only Eve to hear.

"Love you, too," she said with a wide grin.

He stood to his feet and walked away. "I'll be back," he called over his shoulder.

"Bye, Terminator!" Eve joked. The three women laughed at his departing grunt. Eve smiled and sighed, "Well, perhaps we should be making our way back inside."

***************

Chuck knocked on Sarah's door. He hadn't heard a peep from her in an hour but they were due at Ellie's for dinner in ten minutes. "Sarah?" He waited for a moment but with no response he said, "Well, I'm going over to Ellie's for dinner if you want to come. It's Casey's promotional dinner . . ." He dropped his head, dejected.

Sarah was leaning on the door frame to her office with a small smile as Chuck talked to the bedroom door. She'd heard him knock on the wrong door and went to see what the problem was. "Chuck, Casey's my partner. I wouldn't miss his promotional dinner for anything."

Chuck turned at the sound of her voice and a smile lit up his face. "Good. Good. Casey will be glad." They stood looking at each other in the hallway awkwardly. Chuck broke the silence, "Look, Sarah, about earlier. I wasn't going to ask you to talk about it-"

"It's okay Chuck. I'm sure I overreacted. I've used the violin a few times as Sarah Walker so it's not a big deal that you know. It's still a part of the cover," she said. _'There you go. Down play it. He doesn't have to know that it's what could have been your future.'_

"Right. Your cover," Chuck nodded, "Well, it's still something you know how to do so . . . Anyway, shall we get this show on the road?"

**************

That's all for now. The dinner is up next.


	20. Chapter 20

A/N: Okay everyone, here is the deal. I've gotten a job on a cruise ship and it's been hectic trying to get everything in order before I go. And then I didn't realize how many people I knew wanted to see me before I left for a while. Some of which have been following me around like a little lost puppy . . . but that's a different story, kinda awkward. Anyhow, long story short, I'd thought I'd have a ton more time to work on this before I left. I'm not saying I won't update while I'm gone but it's a lot harder to get an internet connection to work in the middle of the ocean and while working close to 72+ hours a week. I get to do what I love though so I'm not complaining about a little hard work =) I'm stoked!

With out further ado, here is chapter twenty. It's a bit longer than they have been recently. Hope that kinda makes up for the delay.

Chapter Twenty

Dinner had gone swimmingly. Ellie couldn't remember a time when she'd thought they'd had more fun. Fun was normally something that happened at these events, though interesting probably fit better as a better description, what with burning desserts, crazy girlfriends, and Jeff and Lester. Yep, interesting was definitely better. The new company was wonderful. Grace and Ellie had, unsurprisingly, become fast friends. Grace made John seem less cold. He was always nice and Ellie genuinely liked the guy, but having his 'family' around and a girl he seemed to be interested in made him appear much less gruff. He talked about as much as normal but his vibe wasn't as biting as usual.

Diane and Trisha were having a good time from what she could tell, which was good considering the reason they were in California in the first place. The only thing that would have made this evening better would have been if Eve could have come. Being a doctor, Ellie understood why this couldn't happen but it didn't mean that she didn't wish it would have.

With everyone satisfied by their dinner and no one going for more, Ellie turned the subject to dessert, "Well, how about some dessert? I've made some brownies and there is ice cream, too."

"Sounds awesome, Babe," Devon said, grinning cheekily.

A chorus of affirmative answers resounded through the group. Grace stood and helped gather the dinner plates, "I'll help you, Ellie."

Ellie smiled appreciatively, "Sure, thanks." Ellie led Grace to the kitchen. Grace put the dirty dishes in the sink to soak while Ellie grabbed new dishes to put the brownies and ice cream on. Not one to beat around the bush, Ellie glanced at her new friend and said, "So you and John, huh?"

"Hm?" As Grace turned off the water, it clicked what Ellie had asked, "Oh, no. We are just friends." She moved next to Ellie and opened the ice cream. The ice cream scoop was next to it so she put some on the plates that already had a brownie.

"Okay," Ellie nodded and shrugged, "If it's worth anything though, you guys would make a cute couple."

Grace smiled. The thought had crossed her mind more than once but she after yesterday, she decided that if she were to pursue anything other than friendship, regardless of how tempting it may be, she would need to know more about him first. "Friends is good right now. I'm not sure I could handle anything more than that at the moment. It'll be good to get to know him better first too. Plus, he's got a lot on his plate."

"Yeah, he does." Ellie replaced the lid on the ice cream and put it away. "I really hope Eve gets better."

Grace put the used utensils in the sink, "Me too. She's such a sweet person." The women shared a somber smile. With practiced precision, they each carried out four plates, bringing everyone their treat in one trip.

They ate dessert and enjoyed each other's company, passing around a few stories. Ellie decided she should get a move on the dishes is she wanted to have them done before bedtime. "Well, I'm going to get started on these dishes-"

Devon stood, shooting a dazzling smile at his fiancé, "Don't worry about it, Babe, I got it." She smiled back and sat down while Devon cleared the plates and exited to the kitchen.

Diane's phone began to ring and she looked down at the caller ID noting it was her assistant. It must be close to midnight in DC. _'This must be important.'_ "Excuse me, I have to take this. Thank you for the lovely evening, Eleanor. Have a good night." She walked to her bedroom as she answered her phone, "Beckman, se-" the shutting door cutting off anything more they might have heard.

Trisha looked back to Ellie, "Well, I for one am glad I finally got to taste one of your famous feasts, Ellie. John and Diane raved about them all week. I was starting to think I missed out."

"It was really fantastic," Grace echoed the sentiment.

Ellie smiled, "My pleasure. But thank John. He gave us the excuse."

Casey grunted and rolled his eyes making everyone laugh. They'd done a good job of not making it a big deal but it was always there.

Suddenly the Mexican Hat Dance song rang out through the room. Chuck started 'singing' to the song and doing a little dance, not moving to pick it up. Casey and Sarah looked expectantly at Chuck. He grinned sheepishly. "Night everyone," he said answering the phone as he walked out the door, "Hey, Little Buddy."

"Well, I guess I'd better hit the hay as they say," Trisha said with a chuckle. John threw his house keys to her which she caught easily, "Thanks, John. Have a wonderful night everyone."

"I should probably help Devon, too," Ellie said picking up everyone's glass but Casey and Sarah's. "Relax as long as you'd like."

"Let me help you take these." Grace said, "I was thinking, with your wedding coming up we should postpone lunch until you get back."

"I have free time tomorrow. I thought the future in-laws would be here all week but since they aren't, I'm free . . ." Their conversation became mumbled as they entered the kitchen.

Casey took his glass and went to the couch to wait for Grace and Ellie to finalize lunch arrangements while Devon finished up the dishes. With no one else around, Sarah sat on the couch next to Casey, taking the opportunity to talk to him alone, "Hey."

"Walker," he said finishing the last of his drink.

"I know you don't like lady feelings, but I just wanted to say, I'm really proud of you. I can't think of anyone more deserving."

"Thanks," Casey quirked the corner of his lip. In their whole time of partnership, they'd somehow become friends and it meant a lot to him that she cared to tell him congratulations personally.

Sarah nodded with a smile, "You're welcome." With her piece having been stated, she made her way to the exit as she shouted goodbye to the trio in the kitchen.

"Oh, Sarah, wait," Ellie shouted back coming to the dining room, "Do you want to come with us?" She changed her tone to sound enticing, "It could be a ladies lunch."

"Um," she looked down at John who gave an imperceptible nod indicating he would watch Chuck, "Sure. Let me know when it is and I'll see if I can get my schedule to work."

"Great. Have a good night," Ellie said going back.

As Sarah turned to the door, he felt a strange inclination to have Sarah meet Eve. He never brought his personal life to work but it had managed to show up in this situation and with the realization that he considered Sarah a friend, it only seemed natural to share. "Hey, Walker?"

She turned to look back at her partner, "Yeah?"

Casey suddenly became unsure and shifted uncomfortably on the couch, "Would you like to meet my niece?"

"I'd love to," Sarah said with a smile, "Tomorrow okay?" He nodded and she said, "Great. Have a good night, John." She closed the door gently and walked casually to her home. It was a lovely night out- warm with just a hint of breeze. Things felt good which was somewhat troubling to her. In her experience, things never stayed good for long.

***************

General Beckman sat on the window sill. She'd heard the door close and seconds later saw Agent Walker crossing though the courtyard. "Agent Walker," she called, "a word."

Sarah turned at the formal address and saw General Beckman cross the threshold of the Morgan Door out of the room. _'That's something I never thought I'd see.'_ She cautiously doubled back, meeting the General halfway between the front door and Chuck's old window. Though Beckman's stature caused Sarah to look down on her superior, Sarah couldn't help but feel she was in the Principle's office. "Yes, Ma'am?"

Diane had finished talking with her assistant moments ago. It seems the new Intersect would be functional soon and the CIA was delegating it to be put into Bryce Larkin and for him to head up the operation. He was calling to have Sarah as his second in command. She didn't know why they would put it in Larkin with knowing how many people deteriorated after they were tested. Secretly she hoped he would go crazy. But the new Intersect also meant deciding what to do with Chuck a lot sooner than she had anticipated. The old Intersect isn't out of his head yet and she was sure the only person who could remove it was Orion, leaving still the two options of death and bunker. There might be a third depending on Sarah. "It has come to my attention that the new Intersect computer is almost operational."

Sarah felt her heart clench at the news and fought to keep her features schooled. _'Please don't order me to kill Chuck.'_

"The CIA has awarded Bryce Larkin the commanding position of the project and he wants you as his second."

"What about Chuck? He still has an Intersect. He needs protection." _'Unless you're planning on putting him in a bunker or killing him.'_ Ideas from last night began swirling in her head about what to do, analyzing if she had enough resources to get them both off the grid.

General Beckman shook her head, "I haven't decided yet. That's what I wanted to discuss with you. When Director Graham died, you became on permanent loan to the NSA until I choose to release you from this assignment. That was part of the agreement, meaning the CIA cannot order you to work with Larkin until I let you go."

And there the other foot dropped. Sarah knitted her eyebrows together, "Are you . . . relieving me of duty then?" _'Please say no. I don't want to work with Bryce again and I have to make sure Chuck stays safe.'_

Diane sighed, dropping the professional demeanor, "Sarah, how do you feel about Chuck?"

"What?" Sarah asked in shock. Sharing her personal feelings about Chuck with her SO would not be happening. Not when so much is at stake. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"Chuck's options are limited right now to death or a bunker. I'm not satisfied with those any more and the only option I can think of that has any chance at stopping either of those is if someone would want to stay with him full time. Chuck has expressed interest in developing a more intimate relationship with you and I'd like to know if in any way you reciprocate that." Diane already knew the answer but Sarah could choose to ignore it too which puts her back to square one.

Sarah staggered, "What did Chuck do? What did he say?" She couldn't help but notice Beckman was saying 'Chuck' and not "the Asset.'

"At the ball last night we had a conversation about his future. I explained why I would make the choice to put him in a bunker or have him killed should the circumstances arise. As the conversation progressed, the topic of a relationship with you was broached. I was thinking over what to do, and after I saw you a new option sprung to mind. But in order for it to work I need to know how you feel."

Sarah looked at the General like a deer caught in headlights. Her heart had a moment of swelling but that quickly dissolved into panic. She could believe Chuck would do something so risky after she made him promise to behave. Any number of things could have happened and her dread from last night wouldn't have been completely off base. The idea wasn't unpleasant but still. She never thought about it before since it was out of the question and now she has to decide on forever. That's a long time to wait for someone to let you down. _'What if he doesn't let you down?'_

For once, Beckman saw every emotion that passed on Sarah's face. Under normal circumstances, Diane would have told Chuck first and let him deal with telling her. But other things were forcing her hand. "Look, Sarah, the Intersect isn't up and running yet but it will be by the weekend. If you could let me know," she said, leaving the sentence hanging as she turned to leave.

Sarah watched her go through the Morgan Door. She stared dumbfounded for a whole minute before moving. Her whole ability to think had become fuddled. The only real thing she could pinpoint was panic . . . and fear. Those just served to make her angry. She started back toward Ellie's door and then back toward hers feeling torn and not knowing quite where to go at the moment. What was she going to do?

****************

"What the _hell_, Chuck?" Sarah said angrily swinging the door open. A loud bang resounded as it slammed against the wall.

Chuck looked up from his phone confused. "Ah, Morgan, buddy, I've gotta go. I'll talk to you later." He hung up the phone without waiting for a response, knowing Morgan had heard Sarah slam the door and shout. He walked around the counter but was sure to keep some distance between them. She could still get him with a knife but he would be able to duck . . . hopefully. The first time he'd heard this tone was at the helipad after he flew the copter and it scared him just as much now as it had then. "What do you mean? What happened?"

Sarah clenched her jaw as she stared bullet holes into him. She was so mad she didn't even know where to begin. She folded her arms across her body, heat rising up her cheeks. She shook her head, "Where do you get off talking to Beckman about a relationship?"

"Oh," Chuck's eyes widened. Beckman told her about their conversation. It would seem he'd been right about not telling Sarah about that part. Right, but also wrong because now she had no warning. He'd thought for sure Beckman would tell him first.

"Yeah, 'oh'," she repeated with venom. "You broke your cover after you promised not to. Do you realize what could have happened? You could have gone to a bunker or worse and I could have been reassigned. The next time you feel like taking the direction of _my_ life into your hands, don't."

He put his hands out in front of him, hoping his gesture would temper her anger, "Sarah, it's not what you think-"

"Oh really?" she mocked. "And what is it that I'm thinking?" She didn't give him a chance to reply, pressing forward with anger and suppressing the fear, "That you put yourself in unnecessary jeopardy again? That you went behind my back to get Beckman to order me into a relationship with you? That I'm just supposed to sleep with you so everything can be okay in Chuck Land? How close am I?"

"Sarah-"

"I'm not some stupid video game you can manipulate any which way you want so you can feel better about your miserable existence. Don't you think you should have come to me first?"

Chuck shook his head as his eyes gathered moisture, anger coursing through his veins. He was never one to be quick to anger but she was being unreasonable with her accusations. "And what would you have said?" He did a funny little dance as his hands waived around, "_'Oh no, Chuck. We can't do that. It's against protocol.'_" His fingers stopped wiggling as his voice rose, "Well, you know what? Fuck your stupid protocols!"

Sarah was taken aback by his use of the word. In the whole time she'd known him, he'd never used it. Shock passed through her eyes as she realized that she'd just accused him of only wanting sex and betrayal. Chuck wasn't like that but when Beckman told her about what he did, she felt the grip of fear at what could have happened, at what might happen in the future. And now she was lashing out. He had every right to be angry. _'Not surprising considering what you said.'_ Of all times for her Agent side to agree with her conscience. Usually the disagreement eased her fear that she was doing the wrong thing. But Agent side, through everything, had come to respect Chuck, even if he didn't stay in the car. Agent side didn't think Chuck lived a miserable existence, knew he was extremely loyal, and the furthest thing from a nymphomaniac. And now that Agent side knew a relationship wouldn't result in a reassignment, her defenses dropped pretty quickly- so quickly, in fact that her personal walls trembled in their wake and fortified themselves against the pending sea of emotion trying to break through. It was her own personal fears leading her words now, which resulted in insolence.

"I didn't ask for any of _your_ manipulations and ass backward signals. Your job is just an excuse for you so you don't have to deal with what ever it is you actually feel. Just because you choose to ignore any semblance of human emotion to toy with people and get what _you_ want doesn't mean that I can't try to read between the lines. Or have I really been _that_ mistaken these past few days?" His angry tone dissipated to soft resignation as he continued, "And, for once, be honest with yourself, Sarah. You lie to yourself just as often as you lie to me."

He stared at her in earnest, his palms open by his sides, waiting. All she could do was stand there, staring in stunned silence. What could she say? What was there to say?

When she didn't say anything, he shook his head slowly and swallowed. He let out a self-depreciated grunt even though he hadn't really expected her to say anything. _'What's new?' _"Sarah, we both know that what ever this _thing_ is under the undercover thing, it's real. Asking Beckman for permission wasn't meant to force you into anything. It was so that _if_ you ever wanted to give us a chance down the road, we could try without having to look over our shoulders at every turn. It was for peace of mind. And if you never get to that point . . . well, I guess I'll learn to live with it. What's one more thing, right?

"But don't you dare think for one second it was just to get you into bed." In all honesty, that's what he was most angry about. He was insulted that she thought he'd do it because of sex. That essentially put him on the same level as her employer. "I thought you knew me better than that, Sarah. I would have waited a lifetime to have a chance at everything with you. Not just sex. I respect you far too much to view you as a notch on my belt. Sure I get jealous when you're sent out to seduce information out of guys but it's not only because I'm crazy about you. It's also because you are worth so much more than to be used as just a body, so much more than just an object to be desired. And it infuriates me that you don't see yourself like I see you." He felt like hitting something, like tearing a room apart. "I can't believe you would think so little of me." He ran his hand over his face in an effort to calm himself. He shook his head regretfully, "I can't be here anymore. I've got to go clear my head or . . . something." He grabbed his jacket off the back of the couch and brushed past her, ignoring the slight crackle of energy at the brief touch and closed the door on his way out.

John watched Chuck cut through the courtyard determinedly. He and Grace had been making their way over to his place and saw the last little bit of the argument through the window. "Bartowski-"

"Not now, John."

"Chuck," Casey called but Chuck didn't stop. He watched Chuck go and then looked back at Grace. She was still looking down the path Chuck took.

"You know, our thing can wait," she said looking back to John, "You should go after him. He's pretty upset."

He felt relieved that he wouldn't have to make up an excuse to Grace. He knew he was on vacation but Chuck shouldn't go out without protection and clearly Walker wouldn't be supplying it. _'Damn lady feelings.' _"So much for our evening," he grunted. "Come on. I'll give you a ride home and then find him. I'm pretty sure I know where he is going anyway." _'He should be okay for an hour. I've got him on the GPS.'_

************

Chuck walked the two miles to the storage garage and threw open the door, intent on going for a ride. He didn't have the NerdHerder this week since he was off work and he felt like going to his spot to think which required transportation. He stared at his forgotten friend for a moment before dragging his fingertips against the cool metal. Taking a deep breath, he swung his leg over and kicked up the stand. His fingers flexed around the rubber grips as he reacquainted himself with the machine once again, debating over actually starting it. He'd promised Ellie he wouldn't ride anymore but the feeling he got while riding was freeing. And right now he felt trapped. There wasn't anywhere he could go and nothing he could do about it. There was no way out. _'Well, that settles it. I'm going for a ride.'_

It took a bit to get the bike started after it sitting for so long, but once it got going, the familiar rumble of the engine between his thighs offered a welcoming peace. _'Wonder if Sarah knows I was the one who taught Pretty Boy how to ride?' _His shook his head at the thought, already knowing the answer was no. Feeling rebellious, he chose to forgo wearing a helmet. Who cares if the precious Intersect gets broken? Chuck backed the bike out of the garage and then closed and locked the door. With one last resolved breath, he zoomed out of the facility at an unnecessary high speed.

**************

Casey pulled up to the beach a little over an hour later and was surprised to find Sarah's black Porsche in the lot. Once the Vic was parked, he locked the doors and set out for his partner. He stuffed his hands in his coat pockets and glanced at her. She sat on the hood of the car with her arms wrapped around her knees, the breeze whipping the tendrils of her hair around. They shared a brief moment of eye contact before her glassy gaze went back to the shadow by the water.

He stood silently for five whole minutes before she said anything. "You don't have to be here. I've got this."

He grunted but still stood, considering what to say as both handlers watched the asset in the distance. He thought for a few seconds and then said, "I don't mind taking a night from my vacation."

Sarah shook her head but was kind of glad for the offer even if she wouldn't take it. She kept replaying their argument over and over in her mind and has never been angrier at herself than she was now. She couldn't believe she would belittle Chuck into being just like every other guy. But that was part of the problem, wasn't it? He was nothing like other men which made him hard for her to deal with.

"Anything going on I should know about, Walker?"

Sarah took in a deep breath and considered his question. Did she really want to tell him? It affected the mission so in theory he should know but it was personal. Casey was a great partner but a sounding board for emotional things, he was not. Sarah tsked and shook her head._ 'He's going to find out anyway.'_ "Chuck asked General Beckman if we could have real relationship."

He rolled his head faked a disdained grunt, going for the reverse psychology approach. "Moron." In reality, he was all for it as long as they kept work work and personal personal. But she didn't know that.

'_As if I should have expected anything else,'_ she thought. "Don't worry. Its not gonna happen. Your precious world will remain unpopulated by lady feelings."

"It's for the better," he said, "There is no way someone like him has a chance with someone like you. It'd only end in disaster. Would you really have wanted a guy like Chuck? Come on, he works at a Buy More and got kicked out of Stanford-"

"Under false pretences," she interrupted.

"So he says," he said disbelievingly. "Without that information in his head the boy would be as useless as tits on a boar."

Anger flared in Sarah as her instinctive protectiveness over Chuck came out. "Are you kidding me, Casey?" she said sourly, finally looking at him, "He didn't ask for any of this and yet he puts up with it- without compensation I might add- because he cares. He is worth more than the information in his head. And what girl in their right mind wouldn't want him? He's handsome and sweet and considerate and charming, not to mention unbelievably intelligent and so talented. He always does the right thing. He's willing to put himself out there time and time again even after so much heartache. Chuck is a fantastic guy and you'd see that if you wouldn't spend so much time griping at him."

"I know," he said simply. He was glad to know she would be as quick to defend him as he thought she'd be.

"And, furth-" Sarah had a whole argument planned but stopped short as she registered what he said, "What?"

"Bartowski is an honorable and decent man. I was just making sure you knew it."

Sarah's shoulders slumped, "Beckman already talked to you, didn't she?"

He raised his eyebrows, "Yep."

That means Casey already knows about the Intersect. He probably already knows his orders. She waited for him to say more but when he didn't she pressed, "What . . . what did you say?" Now she was really nervous. She hoped he wouldn't go through with it. He was an orders man but he had an opinion of Chuck now. Maybe it would make him indifferent to the order. She hoped.

Casey shrugged, "She gave you permission."

'_Wait, does he only know about the relationship? Surely he would have known I was talking about the kill order he was told to be on standby for.'_ She was intrigued by what he said to Beckman. Obviously he didn't retch at the idea or Beckman never would have said yes. "Seriously, what did you say?"

In a rare moment, Casey gave her a small smile, "You could do worse."

Sarah's jaw dropped. "Well, I'll be. Sugar Bear has a heart." Casey grumbled at the use of his nickname and Sarah giggled a little, then became dismal. "But like I said, it won't happen. Even though she said it was okay, I'm pretty sure I messed the whole thing up." She sighed regretfully. She ruined her chance to stay with Chuck. The thought still excited her to no end but after the things she said to him she wasn't so sure he felt the same way. It was back to bunker or death unless she could come up with a really, really awesome apology or convince him to run with her.

"What happened?"

A pained expression crossed her face as she looked down ashamed, "I panicked and accused him of going behind my back and asking so he could placate his miserable existence by sleeping with me."

Casey groaned, "Bang up job, Walker." He didn't know what else to say to that. Sarah messed up big time. At least she admits she panicked.

"Yeah, the CIA would be so proud," she said flatly and sighed, "I was mad that he would do something so risky. I'm still mad but . . . I don't know. I'm not mad at the same time. The thought isn't unappealing by any means. Watching Beckman and Chuck interact at dinner tonight, they seemed like old friends." Sarah's brow furrowed as she wondered aloud, "Something changed last night that made him comfortable enough to say something. He wouldn't just throw it out there and see what happens because he promised not to blow his cover."

"And you believed him?" he asked with disbelief.

"Of course I believe him," she responded quickly with admonishment that he would ask such a thing. But her eyes widened in surprise as she realized she didn't even have to think about that answer. It just came out. Proving how much she really did trust him. She looked at Casey and saw he had a hint of amusement in his eye. "Stop with the reverse psychology."

"But it's so easy," he said like an older sibling teasing his younger sister. Sarah only let out a disgruntled huff but said nothing. His tone turned serious as he asked, "Did you come here to apologize?"

Sarah rolled her eyes, "I am capable of doing my job to protect the asset. Just because we had an argument doesn't mean I'll shrink on my duty especially when you are supposed to be on vacation. . . And I want to apologize but," she shook her head in self-reproach, "I wouldn't even know where to begin with one. He wouldn't be receptive to it now anyway."

Casey kicked a pebble and listened to the waves break for a beat, then said, "Better go get started on it. I'll make sure he gets home." He started to walk toward Chuck. After a moment he turned around and said, "Don't shut down now, Sarah."

"Thanks, Casey," she said with a smile as he turned to leave. _'That man is full of surprises.'_ He didn't speak much about these topics but when he did, Sarah was learning quickly that you should listen. It was hard to believe that he was actually encouraging her to talk about anything to do with lady feelings. Maybe he did know about Beckman's alternative plan and this was his way of pushing for it. Knowing that her partner had her back not only professionally but personally too was comforting. She waited until he was about halfway down the beach before she turned to leave.

*************

Casey waited ten yards back before approaching Chuck to watch and assess. Along with everything else Walker said, Chuck also had an amazing ability to forgive. Given time, he was sure Chuck would work it out and get past it. These things just needed to be explained sometimes.

Chuck's voice cut through the darkness as a wave crashed against the shore, "I thought you were on vacation."

Taking his signal, Casey moved closer to the water front and stood next to where Chuck sat. "I am if you call watching your niece die a vacation."

Chuck looked up sorrowfully at his handler. For a moment his problem seemed so small by comparison. He hadn't been a good friend to Casey this past week. "I'm really sorry about Eve, John," he said with genuine concern. He watched the dark silhouette nod and look down. Chuck looked back to the sea as if the next rolling wave would bring something insightful to say. When it offered nothing but sound, he picked up a small seashell and threw it out as far as he could from his seated position. He couldn't tell where it landed over the roar of the waves but it didn't matter. "It doesn't seem fair, does it? How the people who should want to stay can walk away like its nothing but the people who actually want to stay can go suddenly."

"Few things in life are ever fair," John said pulling his hands from his pocket as he sat down Indian style next to Chuck. He brushed the sand off his hands, thinking back to when Chuck helped him with Ilsa. Right now, he shouldn't be discussing this. He was supposed to be helping Chuck but here Chuck was turning the tables- a spectacular display of the character of Chuck Bartowski.

"You know, for a while there, Sarah and I thought you were sick. I didn't even have the sense to call you and see if you were okay. All I thought about were elaborate schemes to find out the information. Sarah knew that and made me promise not to talk to you. And then I only thought about what would happen to me if you were sick. But all I had to do was call. I'm sorry I put my selfishness above our friendship or whatever it is you want to call it. For what it's worth, I am happy you are okay at least physically."

John copied Chuck's earlier action and threw a seashell. "I wish it was me that was sick. Eve is an angel without wings on this earth. And she's so young. She deserves to live for more than twenty-four years. She's done more good things in her life than most ever have or will."

Chuck waited to see if he would say anything else. It wasn't like Casey to talk about these things but everyone has their limit. Casey was probably approaching his. "Is there anything that can be done? Treatments, surgery?"

His head shook, "The one she having now is experimental. Every other kind stopped working." He paused and sighed, "I've read the notes. Her only chance at survival is a transplant but they're having a difficult time finding a match. Something to do with a gene discrepancy, I guess." His fists clenched angrily in front of him as the next phrase made is voice catch, "But there's not a damn thing I can do about it."

"Well, that just . . . sucks," he said sadly, wishing he could have come up with a less lame word. He knew Casey was a man of action so having all the options taken away must be tough.

He cleared his throat, his brief moment of weakness passed. "But everyday she smiles. Everyday she laughs."

They sat in companionable silence, keeping their thoughts to themselves. Chuck was content to sit here and listen or not listen as the case may be. Small talk was unnecessary when it came to Casey. But there was one thing Casey should know about. "Hey, um, I- I sort of flashed on Trisha the other day."

Casey grunted, knowing what Chuck saw. "Just leave it alone, Bartowski." He stretched his legs out in front of him and took the opportunity to change the subject, "What made you grow a pair and talk to Beckman?"

He laughed at the wording that was so uniquely Casey. He'd had no intention of discussing his fight with Sarah. But Casey was obviously done talking about his stuff so Chuck replied, "I took an opportune moment so to speak. But it completely backfired since Sarah clearly decided that even without her job as an excuse she doesn't see me that way. I'm just a hound dog and a betrayer like every other guy to her."

"Walker knows you're not like that," Casey said, "Which is probably why she reacted the way she did."

Chuck spread his arms out to the side, "How does that even make sense?"

"It's in her nature to push people away. You met her father, you heard some stories. Her personal response isn't too much different than an agent response except this response had anger _and_ panic."

"I'm not following, Casey."

He grumbled in aggravation, "Listen, numbnuts, regardless of the situation Agent Walker does not panic. You've seen her under threat of torture and she didn't even break a sweat. Feelings make her panic. She may have gone too far with what she said-"

"I don't know, Casey. Accusing me of betrayal is a pretty big thing."

"Walker has never had anyone that hasn't betrayed her or let her down. She waits for it or preempts it from happening."

"And like I've had cupcakes and roses the whole time?"

"You had Ellie and the stability that came with her presence. You knew that no matter what happened she would always be there because she knew what happened and what you were going through first hand. Sarah spent her whole life running from something, not being aloud to get close to anyone even her own father. She was betrayed by her first long-term partner and any other relationships she may have had were to marks. You and Sarah are completely different in that."

Chuck was dazed. He'd never thought of it that way. Sarah really never had anyone growing up. The things he went through would have been unbearable without Ellie. He could only imagine what she dealt with on her own. He'd always known she was strong but he never realized the strength it must have taken her to survive by herself. "What about saying it was for sex? Not that I wouldn't-"

"Zip it, Moron," he groaned and spat out, "I don't wanna hear about your fantasies."

"Right. Sorry."

As the next wave crashed, Casey said, "Sex is a fallback plan for women like PMS is for men. Just give her a chance to explain once the initial shock wears off. She was completely blindsided."

"Okay." Chuck was glad Casey was there to put things into perspective for him. Shocked that he actually had it in him but still glad. "You know, I didn't do it to force her into anything. If Beckman had given the okay, I wouldn't have said anything until she brought it up."

Casey grunted and joked, "You would have waited forever."

Chuck ignored the joke and said with utmost seriousness, "I would have."

Casey smiled to himself, _'Yep. Walker coulda done worse.'_ A few more waves rolled and seemed to put Chuck more at ease. Casey felt better too. He never understood why Chuck would come here to think but he was starting to see the benefit. He slapped Chuck on the back in manly understanding. "Come on," he rose to his feet, "Let's get a beer."

*************

Sarah was in bed, not sleeping, when she heard the front door close. Light from the bathroom filtered under her door. The squeak of the medicine cabinet informed her he was grabbing his tooth brush. Minutes later the water turned on and the soft tap tap tap of his toothbrush on the side of the sink indicated he was done. The light turned off for a moment just to be replaced by the light of his bedroom. But that was gone once he closed the door. She breathed a sigh of relief knowing that Chuck had made it home safe. She waited a few moments before quietly exiting her room. As she approached the door, she heard the rustling of clothes and was about to knock but pulled her hand away. She needed to gain her nerve so she walked up and down the hallway a couple times to try, taking calming breaths. She'd thought hard about what she wanted to say to him but now with him here, she was second guessing it.

She sat down by his door in the hallway, head resting against the wall eyes closed as she reviewed her apology. She wasn't sure how long she sat there but realized she must have drifted off a little since the light was no longer on. She stood and looked at the door. Swallowing nervously, she grabbed the doorknob and twisted it slowly.

Chuck was lying on his side facing the window. The moonlight streaming through the window illuminated his sleeping form and she could see his shoulder rise and fall with every breath. Much like this morning, she sat on the floor watching him sleep. At seeing him her whole apology changed. New, unplanned words fell quietly from her lips of their own accord, "Why do I keep doing these things to you? I don't get it. Everything you've done has told me you won't betray me. My dad even told me you wouldn't. So why do I keep looking for you to do it? Why do I keep trying to find reasons to run? And then, when the opportunity comes, why do I never follow through? It doesn't make any sense. You're the most amazing person I've ever met. I don't deserve your friendship- or anything really from you. Maybe that's why I do it. Because I'm unworthy of you."

She paused and checked to see if he'd woken up but he hadn't moved a muscle. Sighing, she continued talking to herself, "General Beckman told me the new Intersect should be ready by the weekend. I was so afraid she was going to tell me to kill you or take you to a secure bunker. I would have run, I swear to God, I would have run with you. But then she started asking me how I felt about you and if I'd consider staying here permanently and the whole relationship thing . . . I didn't know what to say. Why am I so willing to run away with you in a moments notice but when General Beckman basically offers me everything I want on a silver platter, not only do I hesitate, I accuse you of awful things and insult you? What was I thinking when I said you were only looking for sex? It's entirely unfair for me to say that since I've had more than my fair share of fantasies about you.

"It just proves I'm not even close to being in your league. I can't be everything you need or deserve. I won't be able to live up to your expectations. I should just cut my losses but I'm terrified to." She pulled her knees up to her chest, resting her elbows against them to support her head. "Would you really want to be with me for forever? The thought is wonderful but after you learn about the things I've done, you might be singing a different tune." She looked at her toes and thought about what to say next. "Just so you know, Chuck, I want to tell you everything, I want to share everything about myself with you but I don't know how to do it. Even when you sat in front of me, pleading to get me to tell you something real, I didn't say anything. Do you realize how hard that was for me? You walked away but I couldn't keep my middle name to myself. It's Lisa by the way. I know you didn't hear me then and you're not hearing me now but . . . I should wait until you're awake for this." She started to move to a standing position but Chuck shifted closer to her on the bed. She froze. When his eyes didn't open she started to breath again.

She looked away from his face towards the corner nightstand. The clock read 2:23 in the morning. The green numbers were slightly obscured due to the notebook sitting on the nightstand. Curiosity getting the better of her, she knelt forward and pulled it to her. It was the drawing pad from this morning but this time it was opened to a specific page, as if he'd been finishing up the details before he fell asleep. What she saw caused a bewildered gasp to release from her mouth as her eyes to widen to impossible proportions. From what she could tell it must have been drawn just a couple days ago since it was- of all things- a picture of her sleeping form on the couch. The light cascaded around her face, reflecting off her blond tresses giving her an angelic like quality she never felt in real life. _'But this isn't real life. This is what he thinks of you.'_

Her eyes scoured over the page looking for something, anything to negate her interpretation of the picture. _'He can't possibly think I'm an angel. I am most certainly not. In fact I'm the furthest thing from it after all that I've done, all that he's seen me do . . . he just couldn't think that, not after everything.'_ But the slight curvature in her mouth and the peaceful expression she wore only served to prove that he did. The sketch was only from her waist up. Each crease in the blanket he'd put over her was shaded to perfection. Her arms were crossed beneath the pillow providing a little extra support for her head. Her hand drooped off the side of the couch with femininity but still managed to display a sense of strength. At the bottom lied an erased title she could hardly make out with the only lighting in the room being what came in through the window.

'_The Unbeknownst Angel.'_

Her hands shook as she rested the pad against her knee. Out of no where, his comment from this morning rang back as if he were speaking it again, _Now I just draw people I love. _Her heart fluttered, eyes widening in realization. _'Oh my God. Does he lo-, is he in lo-'_ She couldn't even get her mind to wrap around the notion. With everything in her, she wanted to believe it was true but the rational part of her kicked in at the incomplete thought, _'Calm down Walker, he doesn't even know you saw the picture.' _ However, the side that wanted to believe it was true retorted, _'Yeah, but, knowing or not, that's basically what he said.' _

She lay down on the carpet and hugged the picture to her. It was the only tangible thing she had to hold onto that gave her hope that he might forgive her. He hadn't torn it out and thrown it away.

************

Chuck had done everything he could to pretend to be asleep while she was talking. He'd kind of hoped Sarah would come in tonight to talk to him. When she didn't wake him up though, he chose to let her think he was asleep. He could feel how heartbreakingly confused she was and it almost made him want to open his eyes and say something but then she would stop. The Beckman thing was a total shock. It was nice to know that she was trying to think of alternative options. He hoped Sarah would agree to stay even if it meant they wouldn't start a relationship. That's better than the alternative.

He heard her take the pad off the table. A moment a panic went through him, _'What if she doesn't like it?'_ He half hoped she'd look at the notepad but was still concerned at what she might think. He tried to make it seem enticing so she would look at it, maybe take his hint. In truth, he was afraid to put himself out there like that again, but it was better than directly saying it and being rejected.

It'd been quite for a few moments and he thought she'd left while he was lost in his own thoughts. Slowly he opened his eyes and looked around the room behind him. When he didn't see her, he sighed and rolled back to his side. Sarah was curled in a ball on the floor clutching the picture to her chest. His lips curved in a soft smile as he reached out to touch her shoulder. "Sarah," he whispered, "Hey, Sarah."

Sleepily she opened her eyes and looked around, caught between half asleep and half awake.

Chuck pulled back the covers and held out his hand to her, "Come on." Sarah complied wordlessly, leaving the notepad on the floor. Subconsciously she still held on his hand tightly, so with his other, Chuck covered them up as best he could. With a smile still in place, he kissed her cheek and wrapped his arms securely around her. As he listened to her slow steady breathing, he drifted off into a peaceful slumber. They still had things to discuss but he'd already forgiven her after talking with Casey. He was still hurt by her accusations but listening to her little speech tonight let him know he would get over it. They would figure things out with time.

*********************************

Alrighty, thanks for reading. Please let me know what you think =)


	21. Chapter 21

Holy Moly! Your eyes do not deceive! I'm so so so sorry this has taken forever and a decade to appear. It wasn't my intention at all. I was gonna put this up just before New Year but then I got transferred to a different ship while my ship was put into dry dock and I forgot to take my computer with me! How blond am I? Anyway, when I came back, I got promoted to AssMan which basically means 14 hour days turned into much longer ones especially at the beginning when literally nothing was working. When I came back to what I wrote before dry dock, I was completely unsatisfied with it. So now here it is, the long awaited chapter 21 and I hope you all like it.

And please don't hate me . . .

Chapter Twenty-One

Eve stood next to the window, leaning against the wall for support as she looked out upon the vastness of the neighborhood below. There wasn't much to see but now that she could move around without her skin tearing she didn't want to stay cooped up in her bed. She decided tomorrow would be her last day at the hospital if the results did not improve. Dr. Williams was right. If this was the end, she didn't want to be here. Getting up the nerve to tell her mom she was done wasn't high on the list of things she wanted to do either. Frankly that scared her more than the treatment not working. How do you tell someone who gave you a reason to live that you couldn't do it anymore?

Like clockwork, Ethan knocked on the door and poked his head in. "Morning."

"Hey." Eve turned away from the window and shuffled to the bed. She sat down heavily and took a deep breath while tracking Ethan with her eyes, watching as he prepared to take the blood sample and organized her next round of Chemo. _'I don't think I can watch this,'_ she thought directing her attention to the window again. It was normal out there. She could use a little normal.

Ethan spilt his attention between the cart and Eve. She sat with her arms locked, bracing herself upright and swinging her legs like a five year old as she squinted at the sunlight streaming through the window. Her sole focus was anywhere but him. _'Maybe I pushed it too far,'_ he thought with a somber smile. He looked at the cart, double checking that everything was in place. Satisfied that it was, he pushed the trolley toward the bed and waited for Eve to acknowledge him. She held her attention away so he stretched out his glove covered hand to her. "Could I have your arm please?"

"Oh, yeah." Eve's movement stopped quickly as she turned her attention to him while pulling up her sleeve. "Sorry."

The corner of Ethan's mouth twitched in concern, "You seem awfully distracted today. Everything okay?"

"No," she answered quickly but then shook her head, "I mean, yeah- Yes. I . . . I'm fine." She was aware how much her avoidance of that question bothered the people in her life but she always gave the answer she wanted to feel, the one she wanted to be true. One of those mind-over-matter, fake-it-til-you-make-it sort of things, and knowing this test was basically deciding her future she was trying her best to be fine with that.

"Okay," he said uncertainly as he fixed the saline flush. Eve watched his every move with growing anxiety. She hadn't brought up their conversation and he didn't know if he should either. While he couldn't be certain that's what had her in such a state, he could only guess it's a big part of it. Uncomfortable was the last thing he ever wanted her to feel around him. The whole situation must be on her mind all the time. She needed someone to confide in besides family and he wanted to be that person.

Just as Ethan was about to put the syringe in the IV, Eve grabbed his wrist. "Wai- wait." He looked down at her expectantly. "Just wait." Eve let go and brought her hands to her face, slouching forward to rest her elbows against her knees with a sigh. Tears started to form in her eyes as she fought against sour thoughts and second guessing. She brought the heels of her hand to cover her waterlogged eyes, clenching her fingers tightly around her hair in a vain attempt to stay in control.

Ethan crouched down and dipped his head to look at her. Ever so gently, he pulled her hands away. As if intuitive of her plight, he said soothingly, "Hey, we don't have to do this now, Eve."

She sniffled as her head shot up to look at him. "Yes we do," she said vehemently, wrenching her hands away from his. She doesn't want anyone's sympathy right now. If she had it, she knew she would change her mind. "Every morning- _every morning _you take a blood sample. Don't ruin the system." She shook her head and closed her eyes tightly, causing the tears her hands had been hiding to fall. Her voice shook with desperation. "Don't make this harder than it is. If you don't do it now, I might change my mind."

Ethan shook his head confusedly. "Change your- what are you talking about?" She just stared at him with red stained eyes like he should already know and his heart sank. She had chosen and this test was the decisive factor. "Oh, Eve, that's- that's . . . I don- I don't-"

She turned away from him, intent on fortifying her walls. "You don't have to say anything, Ethan." If this was how he was taking it, she could only imagine how her mom would.

He could tell she was closing herself off again. "Wait, Eve. Stop." If she wanted his support, he would give it to her. He took hold of both her hands again, holding tightly when she tried to break free. "Stop. I'm sorry. Okay? I'm sorry. I support you in whatever you decide."

"Ethan, you look like your whole world caved in," Eve said meeting his gaze. She didn't understand why he was taking it hard. Sure they were friends but in reality they hadn't known each other for that long. Was it possible to feel so close to someone after such a short amount of time? They had clicked straight away and he was someone she felt like she could lean on, but at the same time she wasn't one to lean. All of that aside, though, she'd rather the conversation not go down the road of feelings. It would be easier to not dive into that yet- if ever- so she avoided it. "How can I do that to my mom again? She was already there after my dad died. We just started picking up the pieces. I don't want her to go back to the way she was before."

"But we still have the results to look at, right? If they show improvement-"

"I know I can't keep it from her anymore," Eve interrupted. "I _physically_ won't be able to do it. She's gonna come in here today and know there is something wrong and I won't be able to stop myself from saying it." She sighed in frustration, "God, why does this have to be so complicated?"

Ethan rubbed his thumb across her hand. He had to do something for her, say something that would help. He took a deep breath and blinked rapidly to hold back tears of his own. Swallowing loudly, he fought for control of his emotions. Eve's natural instincts were to protect the people around her so he must remain composed so she would stay open. He had to be the calm she needed. "What would you have me do? How can I help you?"

Eve clenched her jaw and turned away. She squeezed his hands for strength and said quietly, "Just take the test, okay?"

"Alright," he said nodding slowly as he released her hands to stand. "Alright." He took a shaky breath in hopes of gaining his confidence. Everything moved in slow motion once his fingers gripped the syringe. The sound of the lid being pulled from the needle was enhanced in the silence, the ping drawn out in echoes as it connected with the trolley. His heart beat rang loudly in his ears as the needle aligned with the IV. He could swear he heard the needle pierce through and the blood fill the capsule. After it was done, Ethan taped her name on the side of the syringe and placed the sample on the cart. He inhaled sharply through his nose and faced her. "There. It's done."

Eve's face contorted in sorrow as she sat staring at the viol of blood. This was it. It's out of their hands now.

Ethan watched Eve's grief take over as he sat down next to her. He wrapped his arm around her and pulled her to his chest. Her façade fell away with his actions and she buried her face in his shoulder, muffled sobs escaping with every breath. He could feel her tears soak his skin through the thin layer of cotton. He shut his eyes and squeezed her tighter against him. "It's gonna be okay," he whispered, pressing a kiss to her temple and rocking back and forth in hopes of providing some form of comfort. "It's gonna be okay." He wasn't one hundred percent certain who he was trying to convince more but for the first time in a long time, he found himself praying for a miracle.

**Sarah awoke with a stretch feeling more rested than she had in a long time. As she looked around her surroundings, she noticed Chuck had arranged his room to look almost exactly as it had at Ellie's, which made her smile with utter fondness. Chuck didn't like change but he could roll with the punches better than most. It was nice to know he'd always try to keep some things the same. Maybe that was how he kept things semi normal amid all the chaos.**

**Speaking of chaos, she'd created quite a bit yesterday. Memories of last night bombarded her mind and she groaned in disappointment. Couldn't she have just dreamt about the argument and pretend like nothing was wrong today, that no apology was necessary? But it could never work that way because that would be too easy and everything always has to be complicated. Why couldn't things ever be simple?**

**The door squeaked open slowly and Sarah scampered for her knife but it wasn't under the pillow. It hadn't been her intent to stay here last night. It just happened to turn out that way. At the familiar sight of curly brown hair, she let out a sigh of relief.**

**"Morning," he said pushing the door open upon seeing she was awake. "Sorry to disturb you but Ellie called." He wiggled her cell phone in his hand. "She wanted to see if you were still up for lunch with Grace and her. I didn't think you'd mind if I answered since it was just Ellie." Chuck scuffed to the bed and sat on the lower corner keeping his distance from her.**

**"Right," she said her voice raspy with sleep. She cleared her throat. "Lunch. Did she say what time?"**

**He dropped the phone in between them and shook his head. "She said you'd have to call her back but Grace doesn't get off of work for another couple of hours."**

**Sarah nodded. "Okay." She scooted down the bed grabbing her phone on the way, an awkward tension settling between them. She knew she had to apologize to him but she wasn't sure where to start. The thought of looking at his face and seeing the resentment he must feel made her cringe so she focused on the phone in her lap, hoping for her mouth to open and the right words to come out. Everything she had planned to say last night escaped her memory once again. She felt like her wheels were stuck spinning in mud. It was ridiculous, really, how she could pull some stupid excuse out of thin air when she was caught somewhere she wasn't supposed to be but to have her say something she needed to, something important, and it's like the entire English language evaporated from her mind.**

**Chuck watched Sarah carefully, deciding if she would actually say anything. Her mouth kept opening and closing like she was going to but then nothing came out. He didn't want to make things easier for her by starting the conversation. Even though he'd pretty much forgiven her, she didn't know that and it was her responsibility to set the record straight- not his. She said hurtful things last night and he'd be damned if he started to fix it. He wanted to know she would care enough to try first, that he was important enough for her to try, regardless of what Casey said. As the tension escalated, he saw her bite down on her bottom lip and furrow her brow in concentration. He looked away, piercing his lips together in resignation. Apparently she didn't want to try at this moment. _'Maybe later.'_ With a small nod he said, "Okay, well, I'll leave you to it." He pushed himself off the bed and Sarah grabbed his wrist.**

**"Wait, Chuck," she said without looking at him. "I jus- I . . . I'm trying to figure out what to say." She looked up tentatively to see Chuck without an expression. "I don't- I don't know where to start."**

**Chuck's head rolled downward. If he left now, would she follow or would she not try at all? _'Well, Chuck, it may be her responsibility to fix it but it's yours to let her have the chance.'_ With that, he reclaimed his seat on a sigh. "Sorry is a normal place to start."**

**Sarah let go of his arm with relief. He chose to stay for now but how long would he keep choosing that? _'Don't screw up and maybe it will be longer than you think.' _"It doesn't seem like enough to only say 'sorry'."**

**Chuck's lips slanted teasingly. "I said it was a _normal_ place to start."**

**It'd surprised her that he made a joke. _'Maybe this won't go so bad.' _She offered a tight smile to his jest before turning serious. "I am sorry, Chuck. I don't know what I was thinki- actually, that's not entirely true. I knew I was thinking about everything that could have happened, not what actually did. All of these worst case scenarios popped into my head and it was easier to be angry and betrayed than to admit that I was . . . well, I was . . ." she sighed in submission. "I was afraid and I panicked. So many things could have happened to you and nobody would have known. Not Casey or Ellie . . . me. You're too valuable to loose and not just because you're the Intersect- that is important. I have to believe that's important. But it means nothing compared to you. Too many people rely on you. And for you to just . . . disappear . . ." Her head shook as if she couldn't fathom the idea. "It would ruin them."**

**"But it didn't happen-"**

**"That's not the point, Chuck," she said earnestly. "Beckman told me the new Intersect would be up and running by the weekend. Maybe it was irrational or stupid but with Casey off duty, I was afraid she'd order me to kill you. But then she started asking me about other options and feelings- I didn't know what to do. I handled everything all wrong and I'm sorry, Chuck. I'm sorry I didn't consider that you wouldn't knowingly jeopardize yourself with Beckman- sorry I didn't think about the fact that you would do everything in your power to make sure you'd never go to a bunker. I wasn't being fair to accuse you of that, especially the part about betrayal and-" she found a fraying thread on his comforter very interesting as she continued, rushed and embarrassed, "-and when I said you were looking for sex. It's just that you can be _so_ frustrating sometimes. I know that's not a good excuse but you're not like the majority of men I come across and sometimes I forget that. Sometimes I need to be reminded."**

**"I can be rather frustrating at times," Chuck nodded understandingly. "I'm sorry about that."**

**"It's not your fault. It's just your nature." She picked at her fingernails as she thought about what else to say. There must be something she's missing, something she's forgotten. It seems that her lack of real world experience is greatly affecting the best friendship she's had in . . . well, ever.**

**"Well," Chuck said pushing to a standing position, "apology accepted. Breakfast is on the table if you want some."**

**Sarah grabbed his arm in shock, making him sit down again. "That's it? You're not going to tell me what to do to fix things? I'm forgiven just like that?" She never realized the answer to her problem could be as simple as sorry. But it was like when you were a child, wasn't it? If you did something wrong, you'd say sorry and that'd be it. Your mom or dad would forgive you and you'd move on. So when had sorry stopped being enough? _'When you decided to make it more complicated than it has to be.'_**

**"Sarah," he said, "a good friendship doesn't need apologies to be mapped out by the other. You have done enough for me to forgive you. In all honesty it's kind of nice to know that even the best spy can be surprised by something." Sarah laughed causing Chuck to smile. He slapped her thigh lightly, "Promise. Apology accepted."**

**"Well, that was easier than I thought it'd be. I mean, I am sorry but I thought you'd want . . . more." _'Like an answer . . .'_**

**"I'm not going to take anything you're not willing to give. It's your choice. I know you're not good at feelings but all I ask is that you think about it. What you want. What you really, really want. And please only consider that. Leave everything else out of it, okay?"**

**Sarah licked her lips and nodded, "Okay." Everything about that moment would have been perfect, except Chuck didn't say anything about what Beckman had said. "But what about the Beckman thing?"**

**"Only what you want, Sarah-"**

**"I know, but just answer the question, Chuck," she interrupted.**

**His eyes fell to the floor with sadness. "As much as it sucks, General Beckman and I have an understanding about the future. My future."**

**"What does that mean?"**

**He sighed glumly, "It means that I trust- well, _hope_ she'll do what's best." Chuck shook his head, clearing the thoughts he didn't want to have yet. With the new Intersect coming online, he'd have to deal with them soon enough. "So breakfast?" he said grabbing her hand and pulling her to her feet. "I know your going to lunch in a few hours but I figured I'd repay you for all the times you cooked for me. Actually it's probably better that you are eating lunch later because I'm not promising an edible meal. Unless of course your name starts with M or J."**

Once Ethan had gone, Eve called her family to see what time they would be arriving. She wanted to know how much time she had to decide what to say to them. Lucky for her, they all had something to do. Her mother had errands to run and calls to make to the insurance company, Grams had a conference call with the Pentagon and Uncle Casey was on 'Chuck watch.' Each of them offered to come sooner but she told them to finish what they needed to first. She needed time to find the most delicate way of breaking the news. It couldn't be too abrupt. It had to be done tactfully. Tact wasn't something she was normally short on but this was an astronomically different issue than she'd ever had to deal with. She had no clue where to begin.

So here she sat, with less than an hour to go and no closer to deciding how to approach the topic. Telltale signs of panic were starting to rear their ugly heads. Eve stood up and began to pace away energy she didn't have to spare. As expected, dizziness came and she moved to the window to rest her forehead against the cool, glass pane, taking deep breaths in a futile effort to relax. _'In through the nose, out through the mouth. In through the nose, out through the mouth . . .'_

**Trisha finished up her errands earlier than anticipated and decided to go to the hospital. Eve hadn't sounded like herself when she called. Trisha wanted to check on Eve as soon as possible. She distractedly walked the halls while searching through her bag for her phone, glancing up every so often to make sure she didn't run into anything. When she found it, she sent a quick text off to Casey letting him know she would meet him at the hospital. He replied he was parking. She smiled as she pushed through the door to Eve's room. "Hey, baby. How's your-" she stopped short when she saw Eve leaning against the window. "Eve?"**

When Sarah finished lunch with Ellie and Grace, she called Casey. He told her to meet him at the hospital and then after she met Eve, she could take Chuck home. Sarah knew he'd never admit it, but Casey wanted Chuck to meet Eve too. Chuck was their asset after all, but most of all he was their friend. She saw how he reacted when they both thought Chuck had been blown up in the NerdHerder. Chuck was important to him whether he wanted him to be or not. The car beeped twice signaling the doors being successfully locked and Sarah headed straight to the entrance. She was early so she leant against the wall to wait for Chuck and Casey.

**Sarah left with Ellie a few hours ago, leaving Chuck to kill time by himself. He didn't want to bother Casey since he was taking time off his time off to watch him and let Sarah have a life. All he'd been doing was sitting in front of the TV switching between video games- even beating one but the usual satisfaction never came. _'I am so bored!'_ Chuck sighed and dropped the controller. _'Movie time.'_ He went to the kitchen and opened the pantry, searching for some popcorn as he decided what movie to watch when the doorbell rang. Chuck felt his heart jump to his throat at the unexpected sound and then rolled his eyes at himself. _'Stop being so paranoid, Chuck.'_ Even still, Chuck crept quietly to the door and looked through the peep hole. His shoulders dropped upon seeing Casey. "Hey, Casey. What's up?"**

**Casey shook his head. "Eve called. I have to go to the hospital and with how you're sneaking around I assume Walker isn't back. Get your coat."**

**"Am I that transparent?" Chuck asked reaching for his wallet and keys.**

**"No, moron. Walker called." He gave a little half grin. "And I figured. But now I know." Doing an about face, Casey walked toward the Crown Vic.**

**Chuck closed the door and ran to catch up with him. "You know Casey, one of these days I might surprise you." He opened the passenger side door and got in.**

**"I'll be sure to alert the media," Casey said shutting his door and starting the engine.**

**As with most of the time they spent together, the drive to the hospital was made in silence albeit more comfortable than usual. Chuck tapped lightly on the door frame to pass the time knowing that Casey preferred the radio off. Traffic was unusually quiet and they made it to the hospital in no time. Casey easily maneuvered his car into the parking stall and they walked to the front entrance. Chuck noticed Sarah immediately and felt the corners of his lips rise.**

**"Sucker," Casey muttered but not quiet enough for Chuck not to hear.**

**Sarah scanned each face that passed, looking for the familiar ones of Chuck and Casey. Upon seeing them, a small smile crossed her face. "Hey guys."**

**"Walker," Casey said as she fell in step with them. The automatic doors opened and Casey shepherded Sarah and Chuck down the hall. Just as they rounded the corner a loud shrill pierced the calm.**

**"Help me! Somebody please help me!"**

**Casey recognized Trisha's voice instantly. His eyes widened with fear as he took off running down the hall, Chuck and Sarah following close behind.**

As Eve whipped her head to her mother, darkness swirled over the edges of her eyes. She pushed off the window and tried to take a step. "Mom," she said breathlessly, feeling the ground coming closer to her.

"Eve!" Trisha shouted, dropping her purse to the ground as she rushed to her daughter's side, sliding across the floor on her knees. "No, no, no, no. Come on!" she cried, pulling Eve close to her. "Help me! Somebody please help me!" With trembling hand, she brushed away Eve's bangs. Eve's breath was coming in short and haggard, her eyes struggled for focus. "I need you to look at me. Come on, Baby girl. Look at me. Please-"

Doctors and nurses swarmed the room, taking Eve away from Trisha. They hurried about, shouting out numbers and checking vital signs.

An attending backed Trisha toward the door. Trisha's eyes never left Eve's body as she asked in alarm, "Is she going to be okay? What happened?" Her mind was numb and she had a difficult time processing the attending's response before realizing she'd been shoved into a wall.

"I promise you, Ma'am, we will do everything we can for her, but we need space. You have to step outside."

"What happened?" Casey asked as Trisha was shoved into his arms.

"We're working on it, Sir," she said, gently but successfully pushing Trisha out the door. She closed it quickly and ran to aide the doctors.

Casey took a step to the right, dragging Trisha with him as he looked through the window. Trisha realized she hadn't been pushed into a wall but into the arms of her former protector. It was easy to fall back into the role of asset as she burrowed into John's side for strength, openly crying as they watched.

Chuck and Sarah watched as the doctors hustled around the room, catching their first sight of Casey's niece. Her blonde hair was covered with a forest green bandana. Her skin marred and pale. To Chuck, she looked frail yet resilient. He turned and saw Trisha clinging on to Casey, their eyes glued to the room. He could see Casey's jaw clenching as he swallowed and the tears falling from Trisha's eyes.

When the doctor moved far enough away for Sarah to see the girl's full face for the first time she felt a strange sense of familiarity. It was unlike anything she'd experienced before. The girl's eyes closed and then opened once more, looking toward Chuck before sliding to Sarah. Their eyes locked and instantly she knew why. "Oh my God," Sarah gasped quietly. _'It can't be . . .' _The girl's eyes rolled back and Sarah pressed a hand to the glass.

**Eve could barely register the doctor's encouragements as they poked and prodded her. Her sole focus was on her mother holding to Uncle Casey as they watched. She felt her eyes rolling back and fought against passing out.**

**"Come on, Eve. You need to stay awake."**

**She focused again to the window. Everything was hazy but she was certain she saw a face she never thought she'd see again. She took in as much air as she could to speak but found herself unable to form any words. She blacked out before confusion had a chance to settle in.**

Casey blinked and looked away. He grabbed Trisha's arm and pulled her away from the window. "Come on. Let them work." She shouldn't have to watch Eve literally die. Watching her battle with cancer was bad enough. He knew all to well what it was like to watch a person you love die. Pushing her down to the seat, he sat next to her and crossed his arms.

Chuck watched Casey walk away with concern. Sarah appeared to be consumed by what was happening in the room and he assumed she was watching on in Casey's stead. He looked away from the room anxiously thinking of something to do. Death wasn't something he was good at. He still liked to pretend pictures of dead people were pictures of people sleeping. He needed a distraction. A small amount of relief came when he'd though of just the thing. It was helpful and would let him leave the area for a bit. "I'm gonna call General Beckman." Sarah nodded absently and he left, dialing her number as he rounded the corner. She answered after only two rings.

"_Bartowski, I'm in a mee-"_

"General-" he interrupted. He'd never had to share news like this before. It made him nervous and he felt a little like crying. He brought his fist to his mouth and bit down hard.

"_Bartowski?"_

He took in a sharp breath through his nose. "General, I think you'd better come. Eve . . . sh- she collapsed."

"_I'm on my way."_

**The excitement wore down and the medical team started to trickle out of the room. The doctor wore a grim expression as he left, dropping the file in the wall holder. Sarah watched him walk away before her eyes fixed on the girl. She knew the girl was still alive by the monitors she was attached to. _'I have to know before it's too late.' _She glanced to the file and then covertly around the area. Casey and Trisha were preoccupied with talking to the doctor and Chuck had left to call Beckman so there was no one to get in the way. When she was certain no one was watching, she grabbed the file and casually left, heading straight for her car. She had to know. And this file held the answers.**

**She pressed the button on the key ring for the trunk and pulled back the carpet quickly. With practiced temperance the combination to the safe was entered. Sarah grabbed the briefcase she'd put there days before. She opened the case and searched through the thick files. When she found the one she needed she began comparing information.**

**_Name: Evelyn Jane Meyers  
DOB: October 29, 1984_**

**She opened the medical records she stole and ran her finger down the page.**

**_Name: Evelyn Jane Fisher  
DOB: October 29, 1984_**

**Sarah compared all the doctor's visits, immunization records, previous injuries and everything matched up. Everything. Right up until the day it was like Evie had vanished into thin air.**

**Sarah took what she needed and slammed the trunk. She walked with haste to the cardiac unit in search of Devon. He could help. She scanned over all the anonymous faces until she found the one she was looking for. Devon was exiting from a patient's room. _'Okay. You can trust him. He knows your secret,'_ she said as if trying to convince herself._ 'You don't exactly have a lot of options. Hell, you don't even have a lot of time.'_ Suddenly nervous, her hands shook around the files as she started hesitantly towards him.**

It had been fifteen minutes since she was kicked out of the room. It felt like hours but it was only fifteen minutes. Fifteen minutes since she saw her daughter being hoisted from the ground. Fifteen minutes since her daughter's eyes closed. She could only pray that it wasn't for the last time. The doctor finally emerged from the room looking rough but that could just be because it'd been a long day. She hoped.

"Mrs. Fisher?"

"Yes?" she asked nervously as she stood.

"We've stabilized your daughter but she's still very weak."

Her heart loosened with the news. She let out the breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. "But she's okay? She will be okay?" The look on the Doctor's face was enough for her heart to clench again.

The doctor swallowed, "For now." He knew what her numbers were like. Eve was a fighter but sometimes fighting isn't enough. Sometimes it was never enough. "I've called Dr. Williams. He's on his way to check up on her. The nurse is still in with her. Why don't you get a cup of coffee before you go back in?"

Trisha nodded and blinked back tears. "Okay. Thank you," she choked. She looked at Casey as the doctor walked away. "I thought it was over. I thought-"

"Shh. It's okay. She's okay," he said hugging her tightly.

**Once the call ended, Chuck stayed away to settle his nerves. There was no place for them here. Feeling as ready as possible, Chuck came back around the corner. What he saw was enough to change his whole perspective on Casey. Casey was consoling his friend with a tenderness Chuck had never witnessed before. He'd never been more proud to know him than in that moment. Casey was a real life terminator to Chuck but seeing this softer side helped him see Casey more as a human being and less as a robot. He stepped to Casey's side and whispered, "I called General Beckman. She's coming."**

**Casey gave a grunt of thanks and a little nod. "Where's Walker?"**

**"She's-" Chuck turned to look by the window but Sarah was no longer there. "Well, she was right there. I'll find her."**

Devon looked through his patient's chart, filling in the most recent updates. He'd finished her surgery five hours ago and came straight away after she'd woken. He liked to personallycheck up on his patients as often as possible. "Okay, Mrs. Duncan, everything is in order. We'll need to keep you for observation for the next few days and Marcy here is gonna be with you until you leave."

"I remember," the old lady said. "It's your wedding right?"

"That's right. It is." Devon couldn't hide the smile if he wanted to. "Do you have any questions for me?"

"No. Thank you for everything, Dr. Woodcomb."

"It was my pleasure, Mrs. Duncan."

Devon handed Marcy the chart and started for the door when Mrs. Duncan shouted, "You be good to that wife of yours, you hear?"

"I will, Mrs. Duncan. Believe me, I will." He came out of the room smiling, thoughts lost somewhere between his wedding and his bride to be. Out of nowhere Sarah popped up, startling him. "Sarah? What's going on?"

"Devon, I need your help." Sarah pulled him around the corner to be out of earshot. "I need to know what's wrong with Casey's niece."

He shook his head. "I can't tell you that, Sarah." Devon pulled her into one of the family waiting rooms. "Do you have any idea how much trouble I could get into? I could loose my job." He didn't know she'd already taken the file.

"Casey is my partner, Devon. My partner. He needs help." She hesitated with divulging her true reasoning. She hadn't told anyone about her search for Evey except Director Graham. And he's dead. "It's different now that I see it for myself."

"Sarah-"

"I promise you won't get fired. I'm very good at keeping secrets."

"I know," he said blandly. Devon sighed and shook his head. "I'm not gonna break my oath. I won't. But I will tell you what I know. Gossip is all the rage these days."

"Fine. I'm waiting."

"She's suffering from a rare form of leukemia. When her body stopped responding to chemotherapy, her doctors relied only on radiation while they searched for other options. I don't know who found out about the trial Dr. Williams runs but somehow they did and submitted an application. He rejected it at first because she's practically a million miles away from recovery and it's her second time."

"She's had it twice?"

"Yeah. Apparently she called Dr. Williams and was very diplomatic in talking her way into the program but its not looking good, Sarah. She's not responding. She's not declining either but there has been no change. The doctors and nurses are all pulling for her but sometimes there is nothing you can do."

Sarah nodded while she processed, thinking of alternatives. "What about a donor?"

His head started to shake before she even finished the question. "There's something in her blood that makes for slim chances of finding a donor. A blood relative has to do it and Eve was adopted."

She nodded and took a moment to let the news sink in. _'If she was adopted then it could be her.'_ She licked her lips and held out the file to him. When he reached out to take it she yanked it away. "Before I show you this, I need you to promise to keep this between us, okay? No one knows about this except me. Do you understand?" Devon nodded and she handed over the pages to him, watching intently as he read.

He skimmed over it with furrowed brow, taking in as much information as he could. When he realized what she was insinuating, his jaw dropped in disbelief. "You think Eve is your sister?"

"Yes." Sarah shifted uncomfortably waiting for him to speak but he said nothing. "Look, Devon, I just want to know if it is my Evie. I could be right," Sarah pushed. "And if I am then it's possible I'm a match, right? I could fix this."

"But what if you aren't?"

"Then this is our secret. Like I said, no one knows what's in this briefcase."

Devon sighed and stared pointedly at Sarah, considering his options. He wanted to help but it would be smart to find out what the consequences were. "What happens if you are?"

Sarah looked away with sadness. "Then I'll most likely be reassigned or forced into retirement. Either way, I'd have to leave Burbank."

"What about Chuck?"

"He'll get a new handler-"

"That's not what I meant. I know you have feelings for him. Are you even going to tell him?"

"What do you want me to say, Devon?" she spat in frustration. "That I'm so in love with Chuck the mere thought of it petrifies me? Well it's true. But I can't help the fact that my only sibling, who I've been looking for for a long time, is dying. I may be the only person who can help her. Don't think for one second it would be easy to walk away from either of them." Her jaw quivered with effort to hold back the tears at the sudden realization. She can't have both of them. Her body shook with anger and sadness and she slapped her legs in defeat. "I loose. Either way, I loose. That's my fate."

"Why can't you have both?"

"The CIA spent a lot of time, money and effort creating Sarah Walker. I'd be blowing my whole cover. Almost eleven years worth of work and that puts everyone at risk especially considering my childhood. I'd have to leave to make sure there are no ripples."

Devon nodded and bit on his lip, feeling insensitive at questioning her intentions. Clearly things could be as complicated as Sarah and Chuck always say they are. "What do you want me to do?"

"I know about your background in research at UCLA. Take the test."

**So there you go. Thank you to everyone who checked up on me in my absence. It's meant a lot knowing you guys still think about my story. Believe me, it's always somehow on my mind too. I hope I didn't disappoint.**

**P.S. Fanfiction wouldn't take my breaks in the page so hopefully bolding parts made it easier for you guys to read. If you saw the chapter and then didn't, that would be why. Sorry =)**


	22. Chapter 22

A/N: Hey guys! Thanks for the patience. Here is a new chapter and I have good news. I will be home soon so after catching up with friends and family I will have heaps and heaps of time to focus on this and be way more consistent with updates. There isn't going to be many more chapters just in case I do end up taking on another contract. I didn't like leaving this or you guys high and dry like I did. Sorry about that. Thanks for all your reviews and support. And as always, thank you Bill for beta-ing!

p.s. Reminder that I'm not a medical specialist. I did research and stuff but not a doctor.

* * *

Chapter 22

Devon and Sarah sat on the counter of the lab in silence, watching the machine process her bone marrow sample. Ever since he'd taken the sample his ability to formulate words ran empty. She'd barely flinched- didn't even make a sound. He found himself in awe of her tolerance to pain. It did, however, make him wonder about the methods the government took to make you that way. The assumptions alone are . . . _'Don't go there, Devon,'_ he thought, burying the notion, _'Just don't go there.'_ Those thoughts would lead to questions which led to answers he didn't want to know. No, he definitely wouldn't go down that road.

He couldn't believe it. He knew a spy- an honest to God spy. Is honest a word you could use to describe a spy_,_ he wondered. Ever since he'd found out, it'd been a challenge to wrap his brain around the idea. He knew a spy. It was awesome yet terrifying. While his life hadn't been touched by this whole _spy_ thing, he wondered how Chuck had been able to manage thus far. Chuck didn't exactly thrive on things involving more adrenaline than it took to play a video game. At least, that's what Devon thought.

From the corner of his eye he watched Sarah stare solely at the machine. He couldn't imagine what she must be going through. He, himself, couldn't decide what he would want the results to be. On the one hand, you've got an awesome young woman that should be allowed to have a life. And on the other is his fiancé's brother, an awesome young man that deserves a life too. Sarah brought out the best in Chuck and, from what he can tell, Chuck brought out the best in Sarah.

Devon cleared his throat unintentionally, causing Sarah to look at him for the first time since the process started. He shifted uncomfortably under her scrutinizing stare, somehow managing to find his voice. "If I asked you something, would you answer it?"

Sarah regarded Devon for a moment, semi-interested as to what he'd been thinking for the past hour or so. _'Indulge him. At least it'll take your mind off things.'_ Her eyes narrowed thoughtfully, "Depends on the question."

"Fair enough," Devon nodded. "I was wondering- if Eve was adopted, how come you weren't? How'd you get separated?"

Sarah took a slow breath in and out before replying. "I don't want say," she said, "At least, not yet. I . . . shouldn't Chuck know first?"

"So you are planning on talking to Chuck then?"

Her head shook somewhat regretfully. "I don't know."

Devon's brow furrowed pensively. "You're a very confusing person, Sarah."

Sarah hummed humorlessly. "You have no idea." Confused barely covered it. If there was a word beyond confused, that's what she'd be. It made her head hurt thinking about it. Instead of working it out right then, she asked, "So how does this work? If I'm not a match, are we gonna be able to tell if she is my sister?"

"Not from this test. This test is checking your protein markers," he said. He pointed to a different machine in the lab. "But that test is running your DNA against hers so we'll find out anyway."

"Okay. Good. That's good," she said anxiously. "What's the probability that I am a match?"

"Well, as long as you have the same parents, you're looking at about twenty-five percent."

"Twenty-five percent? That's it?"

"It's better than nothing," he said, finding himself suddenly unsure of the situation. _'What are you doing, Devon? You could loose your license for running these tests.'_ He shrugged off the thought and changed the subject, "What do you want the results to be?"

"That is . . . a great question and if I knew the answer, I'd tell you. Waiting is the worst part. I just want to know, you know? Once there's finality to it, it can be handled. But waiting . . ."

"Is the worst part," Devon nodded his agreement.

The conversation lulled and Sarah's thoughts returned to Evie. Not a day had gone by that she didn't think about Evie, miss her desperately. In her heart, she knew that was her sister lying in that hospital bed, dying. They'd been so close as children. Leaving- or being taken away as she so often felt it to be- was probably the first thing that broke her. Would she be able to do it again? She'd only been a child the first time and she sort of had her father with her, but this time she would be on her own and she wasn't so sure that she could manage. Sarah broke the silence looking for advice, "If I were to ask you something, would you answer?"

Devon looked as Sarah with a teasing curve to his lips. "It depends on the question."

Sarah scoffed and shook her head but kept on point. "How'd you know you were in love with Ellie?"

Devon's eyebrows rose in surprise. He hadn't expected that. "Well, Ellie and I had dated for while before we were officially exclusive. But even though we were allowed to see other people during that time, we never actually did. I knew Ellie wanted a relationship but I wasn't ready to commit so it was easier to be unofficially official than to be in a defined relationship." Devon paused and pointed a cautionary finger at Sarah. "If you ever tell her this I swear I will hurt you."

'_Oh, please. __I'd like to see you try,_' Sarah thought, not even trying to hide it.

Devon noticed but pressed forward anyway. "I'm serious, Sarah. Spy or not I will find out how to get you for ruining the best thing in my life."

Sarah rolled her eyes. "Relax, Devon. If there is one thing I'm good at, it's keeping my mouth shut."

"Okay, true." Devon waited a beat before continuing, "Well, there was this one time that I did see another girl, sort of. My frat buddy just ended things with his girlfriend and was in a pretty low spot so I took him out to a couple of bars. We flirted shamelessly with girls and had our fun like back in the day. Anyway, he ended up talking to this one girl a lot and I did the good wingman thing- talked him up, whatever. When the bar closed he wanted to continue chatting with her so we took her and her friend to one of those twenty-four hour diners. Somehow it ended up as double-date type thing and I thought to myself, 'God I hope Ellie doesn't show up.' I kept looking at the door, indecent amounts of sweat gathering everywhere, trying and failing to keep up with the conversation. It was too much so I excused myself to the bathroom. I just needed a minute to get my head on straight, you know? It wasn't like me to not be able to talk to pretty girls. I must have stared in that mirror for thirty minutes trying to figure out what the problem was before giving up. But as I was rinsing my face, knowing something was different, knowing something changed, it hit me. _I_ was different, _I_ changed. I didn't want things to be like back in the day. I wanted steady. I wanted committed. I wanted Ellie. None of those girls compared to her. None of them were as pretty or as smart or funny or kind. She was my standard. She was my bar. And everyone else fell short."

Devon grinned and Sarah couldn't help but reciprocate slightly. "So that's when you knew?" she asked, wonderment tingeing her voice.

"No. That's when I accepted. I knew from the moment I saw her she was the one for me. Nobody had ever caught my attention so fully. I remember everything about the day I met Ellie, from what she wore to how she walked . . ." Devon replayed that day over in his mind, the silly stupid smile never leaving his face. He laughed to himself and then looked at Sarah. "Most people know who the one for them is when they meet them. Some are lucky enough to believe its love at first sight. Others dance around for months before taking hold and a small few never take the chance. You just have to decide where you fall."

Sarah nodded in consideration as the machine beeped indicating the completion of the test. Devon hopped off the counter to the grab the printout. Sarah watched him in silence as he read through the results, looking for any clues or hints to be given away by his facial expressions. He bit his lip and stepped closer to Sarah, leaning against the counter where he'd been sitting just before. He clicked his tongue and looked at her with a look she couldn't discern. "What?" she asked, fearfully, "What is it?"

* * *

General Beckman pushed violently through the front door to the hospital and walked briskly toward Eve's room. Every so often she would do hop-skip, barely restraining herself from breaking into a sprint. When she got to the window of Eve's room she saw Trisha grasping Eve's hand and John stared out the window through the slit in the curtains. The lighting had been dimmed and she could just make out the numbers on the monitor. Her hand slapped against her chest as she released the breath she'd been holding since she'd gotten Bartowski's call. Eve was alive. She was okay. Her eyes blinked rapidly to keep the tears at bay and she swallowed the lump in her throat.

Chuck found General Beckman collecting herself at the entrance to Eve's room. When he couldn't find Sarah, he'd gone to get coffee for Trisha and Casey, needing something to do while he waited. He approached slowly and whispered softly, "Hey." Apparently it wasn't softly enough as Beckman startled slightly at the monosyllable word. "Sorry. I- I didn't mean . . . Coffee?" He held out a cup to her.

"No," she said, her voice rough. She took a deep breath to steady herself. When she was satisfied she was composed enough, she asked, "What happened?"

"Casey said that the doctor said Eve had a panic attack. She's stable now but it's not looking g-"

"I need to talk to you," Sarah interrupted. She was slightly out of breath as though she'd been running.

"Walker-"

"Now. It's important."

Chuck thought General Beckman was about to blow a fuse but instead she took a moment to calm herself. "Fine," she snarled through clenched teeth. "Let me find out what's wrong with my Grandchild and we will talk." She turned back to Chuck. "Bartowski?"

He was a little disheartened that Sarah didn't acknowledge him before plowing through but now wasn't the time. "Right, um," Chuck swallowed, "The thing is, Dr. Williams believes Eve is on borrowed time-"

"General-" Sarah tried again.

"Quiet, Walker."

"-and that her only chance has-"

"General, please."

"-basically no chance because-"

"I'm a match for Evie," Sarah spat before Chuck could finish the news.

Beckman whipped on Sarah so fast and Chuck dropped the coffee he carried. "What?" she clipped harshly.

"I'm a match for Evie."

Beckman grabbed Sarah's arm forcefully and dragged her away from the door, just in case Trisha could overhear. She pushed her into a private waiting room and closed the door. Chuck watched them walk away until he saw the door slam. Shock barely began registering on his face before Casey opened Eve's door.

"Where'd Beckman go?"

Chuck stared at him, mouth agape, wondering if he should tell Casey what Sarah said but thinking it a bad idea if he did. He couldn't explain what he didn't understand. "She, ah-um, she's talking to Sarah. I-I'm going . . . coffee," Chuck explained brokenly, gesturing to the spilt beverage before leaving.

* * *

"If this is some kind of joke, Agent Walker, I am not amused."

'_God, for being so small, this woman has lethal grip.' _Sarah wrenched her arm away from Beckman. "It's not a joke." She waived the results in front of Beckman.

"What is this?" she asked, snatching the sheet away. The document showed a lot of matching numbers but she didn't know what it was for. "I don't understand. What am I looking at?"

Sarah sighed and dropped file on the desk. She found the papers she'd shown Devon before sliding the file to Beckman without a word.

Diane shuffled through the file, glancing over the contents. There were pictures, dates, addresses, medical records- all the things that made up a missing person case file. She compared old records to newer ones and paused at the similarities. Clipped to the inside front cover was a photo of two young girls playing on a beach. The file bore the name _Evelyn Jane Meyers._ The last name struck her as odd. That wasn't Walker's real last name, though she understood the implications of the documents. "No," she denied. "No, it's not possible. I've read your file from back to front. Dr. Williams made it quite clear that the only way Eve would be able to receive a transplant is from someone she is related to and you don't have any siblings."

"General-"

"Eve said she doesn't have anyone!" Beckman shouted angrily.

Sarah reeled back as if someone slapped her. She shouldn't have been surprised Evie wouldn't say anything about her. She'd abandoned her after all but knowing didn't take the sting away. She sat down and hung her head.

Beckman slammed the file shut and paced the small room back and forth. There were so many questions, _so_ many questions but she started with the obvious. "You're going to do it, then? The transplant?"

Sarah could only manage a shaky nod. She brought her hands to her mouth as her knee bounced furiously while she waited for Beckman to reassign her. She'd be on the next plane to Bryce and could all but hear her heart breaking. _'But Evie would be okay.'_

Beckman turned to the normally composed Agent who now looked to be ripping apart at the seams. _'Understandable, all things considered.'_ Even she was struggling to keep it together. She was at the end of her rope emotionally. How they could be sisters? Why it wasn't in Walker's file? Why wouldn't Eve say anything? All the hows and whys left her frustrated and confused, but she also felt hope. There was a light at the end of the tunnel now. She sighed.

Sarah thought the sigh was Beckman's way of preparing herself to tell bad news. _'Come on. Just tell me already! I can't take it anymore.'_

Beckman sat next to Sarah in astonishment, tears flooding her eyes. A miracle somehow happened and her granddaughter had a chance. Uncharacteristically, Beckman reached out the pulled Sarah to her, hugging her tightly. "Thank you," she said thickly. "Thank you so much."

Sarah slowly and unsurely lifted her arms around the General. She felt Beckman's shoulders jerk once but heard no sobs, felt no tears. Beckman really loved Evie. Sarah was grateful that everything turned out okay for her sister- except, of course, the being sick part. For so many years Sarah had wondered what happened to her, thinking the worst. But Evie had a family, people who loved her. And now Sarah would give up her family so Evie could keep it. "Guess this means I can't be your option for Chuck."

"What?" Beckman pulled away. "Why?"

"Graham told me that if I found my sister I couldn't have any contact with her. That if I did, she wouldn't be safe anymore and my whole cover would be blown. But I kept looking for her anyway because I wanted to know what happened. I wanted to know if she was okay- even if I couldn't know her."

"Well, Graham was wrong. That's not true." Beckman shook her head, "And even if it were, I think this would go in the vault of family secrets, wouldn't you?"

Sarah, in stunned disbelief, almost cried at the revelation. "You aren't making me leave?" she asked, trying not to sound too hopeful while simultaneously preparing for Beckman to pull the rug out from under her. "But proto-"

"No, Sarah, I won't make you leave." Beckman observed Sarah carefully. Her eyes narrowed to slits undecidedly. "Unless you want to go."

"No, don't make me leave. I-" Sarah said quickly before she realized what words were coming out. She'd been taken aback at the insistence of her tone. If she hadn't known she wanted to stay before, she definitely knew she wanted to stay now. The mind did tricky things when you didn't think so much about what you were doing or saying. "I want to stay."

Diane felt enormous relief grow in her chest. For a moment there she'd been worried Sarah would say she wanted to go. Though she'd never admit it, Sarah saved her twice today. "Good."

* * *

Sarah waited outside Dr. Williams' office while Beckman explained the situation to Casey, Trisha, and Dr. Williams. Chuck stood next to her in hopes of providing some form of support. He looked at Sarah and then back to the discussion. Sarah glanced over to Chuck and then back again. They played their game for a little while before Sarah reached out and grabbed Chuck's hand. The moment her hand touched his, all his attention was diverted away from the happenings in the room. He allowed himself a small swell of happiness and bit back a smile, not sure if it was appropriate under the circumstances and slightly hesitant of her motivations. It was entirely possible he was reading too much into it.

Beckman turned to the window, waiving Sarah inside while Casey moved to stand.

Sarah looked up at Chuck timidly. He smiled then for reassurance and squeezed her hand. "I'll wait here," he said not wanting to intrude. "I promise I won't move until you're done." She pursed her lips and gave him a look he couldn't quite decipher before she ducked into the office. She looked back at him and then leaned down to whisper in Beckman's ear. Beckman looked at him and then to Sarah and nodded once. Sarah smiled briefly and Chuck could just make out her saying 'thank you' before waiving him in. Nervousness and surprise caused sweat to gather in his palms and he wiped them down his pants before opening the door. "Um, hi."

"Hello," Dr. Williams said. "You're Dr. Bartowski's brother, right?"

"Uh, yeah, I'm . . . Chuck," he said standing awkwardly in the doorway, not sure where to go. Sarah had taken the seat Casey vacated in front of the desk and Casey stood in the corner with his arms crossed and a stern expression. Beckman sat in the middle and Trisha was to Beckman's right. Chuck wasn't sure what to do but the click of the door stirred him to action. He went to stand behind Sarah, mimicking Casey's stance minus the expression.

"Okay, so, Agent Walker," Dr. Williams began, "It's my understanding that you wish to be a bone marrow donor for your sister. Is that correct?"

Sarah nodded but remained silent.

"Alright. If we get the okay, we'll need to scheduled additional testing and a full physical examination-"

"Wait, I don't understand," Sarah said breaking her silence for the first time since she and Beckman finished talking. "Devon ran the test. Can't we just do the transplant?"

"The outcome of a transplant is greatly affected by what are called human leukocyte antigens or HLAs. They are the proteins or markers that are found on the cells in your body. It's how your body knows which cells should be in your body and which cells should not be in your body. So how well these HLA markers match up between the donor and the patient determines the potential risk the patient has for developing what's called graft versus host disease as well as for the overall success of the transplant."

"What's graft versus host disease?" asked Sarah.

"GVHD is when the cells that we take from your body attack the cells in Eve's body. There are two types. There's acute and chronic. Acute happens within the first 3 months of the transplant and chronic is anytime after that but usually within the first six months. Everybody with me so far?" He paused and waited for the affirmative nod from everyone. "Excellent. Okay, so the test that Dr. Woodcomb performed checked the minimum amount of markers which are the HLA-A, HLA-B, and DRB1 proteins. While those ones match, we need to run several more tests to determine if you are the most suitable match for Eve. Does that make sense?"

"Yes," Sarah said. She didn't like the idea of being a lab rat but if it was going to help her sister then so be it. "When can we get started?"

Dr. Williams licked his lips and looked thoughtfully at the people around the room. He leaned forward and rested his forearms on the desk. It was never an easy thing to tell the family about the patient's choice. "I understand your eagerness to begin but we need to have permission from Eve before we continue."

"But she'll want to do it," Trisha insisted. "I know my daughter and she will want to fight this."

"Mrs. Fisher," Dr. Williams turned sad eyes on Trisha, "Eve told Ethan this morning that if her blood test did not show improvement then she would like treatment to stop. I believe Eve's panic attack was a result of the stress of letting you know that. As her Doctor, I am unable to continue this course if she does not wish it to be so. So until Eve says its okay, my hands are tied."

Trisha dropped back into her chair, completely stupefied by the revelation. Everything had been fine. Eve was okay. She'd been her normal self. Except for yesterday. _'I want everything to stay just as it is right now . . . I want today to be perfect.'_ That's what Eve had said. Trisha had thought her daughter's behavior had been off but she never thought this would be the reason. Everything clicked now.

Diane rested a supportive hand over Trisha's, just as shocked. "So what do we do now?"

"We wait. And when Eve wakes up, we'll talk again." Dr. Williams stood and walked to the door. "I'll leave you to discuss things."

Before the door had a chance to close, Trisha yanked her hand away from Diane and looked accusingly at everyone in the room before leveling her glare on Casey. She shot to her feet and pointed at him, fire burning in her eyes. "How could you not tell me your partner could save Eve?" She turned to Diane with the same ferociousness. "How could you watch your granddaughter go through this and not say anything?"

"We didn't know, Trisha," Diane said. "Don't you think we would have if we did? None of us wanted to watch Eve go through this, let alone twice."

"Don't tell me you didn't know!" She looked back to Casey. "You had to have known, John," she said in desperation, "Eve told you everything. You're the only one she talked to about her life before David and I adopted her."

Casey shook his head. "She didn't tell me everything."

"Well, you both had access to this one's file," Trisha said pointing at Sarah.

"Hey-" Chuck started to defend Sarah as always but stopped when she grabbed his arm.

"It wasn't in my file," Sarah said, standing to meet Trisha.

Trisha couldn't bring herself to look at Sarah so she walked to the window. She didn't see their resemblance before. They had just enough differences that you wouldn't see it right off and she'd gotten used to Eve looking so thin and ash grey. But the moment she looked in Sarah's eyes, she saw it. They both had the same color of blue and if she thought back to when Eve was healthy and strong, they had very similar body types. "Why wouldn't it be in your file?"

"Director Graham and my father had an agreement that they'd put my 'real' name as the first name my father used when he took me away."

"Why would Graham have made that arrangement?" Beckman asked.

"Before my father started conning and Graham started working for the CIA, I think they were partners at the FBI. I found out while I was in training. One of our assignments was to infiltrate the Directors office-"

"No one's ever accomplished that mission."

"I know," Sarah nodded. "I didn't actually get into the Director's office. I didn't even try. I got into the Deputy Director's office. Graham wasn't promoted until a couple months after he'd captured my father. He wouldn't tell me anything so I created my own mission to get information about where my father was being held. I wanted to see him before I couldn't anymore. Graham was wrapping up the case against him and I found the documents along with copies of their personnel files. I didn't get a good look through them but it didn't take much to figure it out from there. The CIA wanted someone who knew my father to capture him. Who better than a former partner?"

Chuck squeezed her shoulder supportively. Sarah's father may have hurt her a lot but that didn't mean she didn't care about him. Feelings he was all too familiar with.

Sarah looked at Beckman. "Do you still have the file on Evie?"

"Don't call her that," Trisha said harshly. "She doesn't like it when people call her that."

"Sorry, I . . . didn't know." Sarah stared at the documents in the General's hands. "That file has everything I've found out while looking for . . . Eve." The name sounded foreign on her tongue. "There isn't much but maybe it can answer some of your questions." She walked to the door. "I'll be outside."

* * *

Chuck would be lying if he said the thought to stay wasn't tempting. He wanted to fill in the gaps about what was going on but instead, he ran after Sarah. He followed her to the front door and waited until she got outside to shout after her. "Sarah, wait!"

Sarah slowed, allowing him to catch up. He'd stopped a few feet behind her uncertainly. She didn't turn around fully but glanced at him over her shoulder. "You didn't stay?"

"No. I thought you'd want a friend." Chuck crept closer to her, gauging the likelihood of being able to stay. "Unless, you want to be alone?"

"No," Sarah shook her head and turned to him but didn't meet his eyes. "I'm glad you came."

Chuck smiled, feeling important and waited to see if she'd continue. When she didn't, he looked at the sky, thinking of things to pass time while they waited for Eve to wake up. "How 'bout some ice cream?" he asked, remembering an ice cream vendor down the street. "Everybody feels better after ice cream," he reasoned as he held out his arm to her.

If there was ever a moment when she was more appreciative of Chuck's understanding, this surpassed it. Sarah smiled gratefully and looped her arm through his. "Ice cream would be nice."

"Okay," he smiled and led her to the front sidewalk. "One question though, and we won't talk about anything related to today unless absolutely necessary."

"Beckman's letting me stay, Chuck."

"Really?" he asked evenly. Sarah nodded. "Well, that's awesome but it wasn't what I was going to ask."

"It wasn't?"

"No. I was going to ask if you're okay," Chuck said. As her words caught up to him, he stopped walking out of shock. "There was a possibility you'd have to leave?"

"Well, I thought so. Graham told me it was a breach of protocol to have contact with my sister but Beckman said it wasn't true."

"Okay," he said hesitantly as Sarah tugged him into resuming their walk. _'Does that mean she wants to stay or no?'_ He couldn't be certain and even though he'd promised himself he wouldn't push, he couldn't keep himself from asking the question. "No pressure or anything, but do you want to stay?" If his hand had been free he would have slapped it over his face, regretting the question immediately, so he hastily added, "Or have you not decided? It's okay if you haven't decided."

"No, I have-"

"Oh," he interrupted upon hearing the first word. He shouldn't have been surprised. She loved being a spy but sometimes . . . just sometimes. He tried to hide the disappointment from his voice. "That's okay-"

Realizing what she'd said- what Chuck thought she meant- Sarah ended their slow crawl down the sidewalk. "No, stop." She forced him to look her in the eye. "I meant I have decided, Chuck."

His eyes narrowed in confusion. "What?"

"I-" Sarah felt herself standing at a precipice, one foot perched in the air, waiting. This was it, the moment everything could change. The Agent within wanted to turn around and run. She still could. There was time. But Chuck's arm, still linked with hers, held her firm. She pushed all the negative thoughts aside, and then . . . she leaped. "I decided I want to stay." Panic bubbled to the surface at the sensation of falling. She hoped he would catch her but found herself afraid she'd gone without a harness. She ran her hand nervously up and down the zipper of his Buy More jacket, pausing to grip it every so often as if holding back from pushing away. "That is, if you're willing to put up with my emotional stuntedness and general lack of pop cultural knowledge-"

Chuck smiled widely at a babbling Sarah Walker._ 'She wanted to stay!'_ Butterflies built in his chest as he fought the urge to frolic down the street screaming the news at the top of his lungs. She'd probably kill him if he did. So he went a different route. He removed her wrist from his jacket and pulled her tightly against him. Sarah had no choice but to put her arms around his neck as he put his around her waist, pressing his lips to hers.

The dam broke loose. Every one of her senses tingled with electricity. All the cover kisses in the world couldn't have prepared her eruption of passion burgeoning inside her. The way his lips fit perfectly against hers, their bodies aligned just rightly so, it was magical. Even as the need for oxygen grew, Sarah wanted more. This was more important than breathing right now. She switched angles and brushed her tongue across his bottom lip, to which he thankfully and diligently responded. She fisted his shirt in one hand and-

Beep, bbbeeeeeeeeeeeeppppppppppp!

'_Oh, come on!_' they thought in agitation as they released their death grip on each other at the offending sound, panting heavily. Both refused to let go completely and wrapped themselves in a hug.

A boy leaned out the window of a car passing by. "Ow, Ow!"

"Get a room!" came a shout from another.

Chuck blushed crimson and Sarah buried her face in his chest. As Chuck held Sarah, he felt embarrassment give way to 'who cares? I got the girl. Finally.' He would do a happy dance right now but that'd mean he'd have to let go, something he didn't plan on doing anytime soon. Instead, he squeezed her tighter. When his breathing returned to normal, he said, "Sorry."

Sarah looked at Chuck apprehensively. "Why?"

Chuck smirked. "I got a little carried away."

Sarah let out a relieved laugh, her fear subsiding. She'll need to work on that. She rested against his chest again and couldn't resist a small tease. "So much for not liking public displays of affection."

Chuck laughed, "I guess you just bring out the worst in me." He rubbed her back affectionately and swayed them back and forth.

"And you in me." Sarah sighed blissfully and focused on all the feelings flooding her system. When she struggled to define some of them, she took it step-by-step, one at a time. There was definite excitement at the possibilities. Joy in the fact he'd chosen her. Hope that that would always be the case. Fear that it wouldn't. Nervous she'd screw it up like always. That made her tense. _'Oh, God, what if I do mess it up? What if I can't be a real girlfriend? What if-'_

As if sensing her sudden pitfall into despair, Chuck pulled back. He brushed her hair out of her face and saw her panicking. "Talk to me, Sarah. What's going on?" He kept his voice calm. Emotions were new territory for her so he knew he'd have to ease her into it like she did for him with spy world.

Sarah's jaw worked, trying to form words. When nothing would string together, she pushed away in frustration and paced in front of him trying to collect her thoughts. She didn't run though so that had to hold some significance, she supposed. If it'd been Bryce, she would have been long gone. Before she knew it, she was muttering, "I- I don't know what I'm doing here. I've never been a real girlfriend, or at least a normal one. What if I can't do it? What if I mess up? What if-"

"Hey," Chuck interrupted as he had her thoughts. He grabbed her shoulders to stop her pacing. "Take a deep breath." He inhaled deeply through his nose but Sarah didn't. "Come on, do it with me. In-" She sucked in air, humoring him. "-and out." They both exhaled. "In." They inhaled. "And out." They released. "Good." Chuck guided her to the bus stop bench and sat down. He made sure to face her and focus all his attention on her even when she stared at the street. He gave her a few moments to settle before he spoke. "Now, let's try this again."

Sarah pointed a finger in the air and then deflated as she repeated her concerns, "I'm afraid I won't be normal enough for you." Her distress began to escalate again, "What if I can't do it? What if I screw up? What if-"

Chuck grabbed her hand. "Sarah, we can run the 'what if' circles all day, but lets work the facts. Okay?" Sarah nodded. "Okay. If there is anything I know to be true, it's that," he held up a finger, "fact one, you can do anything you put your mind to, Sarah. I've seen it."

Sarah felt some tension release at his confidence.

He held up a second finger. "Fact two, you will mess up along the way but so will I and we shouldn't let that hold us back."

Sarah felt the corner of her lips threatening to lift.

He held up a third. "Fact three, you will never be a normal girlfriend."

And just like that, Sarah's face dropped, knowing it was too good to be true.

But Chuck made her look at him, grabbing her face and flashing her the biggest smile he's ever had. "And fact four, I love you. No matter what."

It took a moment for Sarah to process the words before she slowly smiled back. "Really?"

"Really," he affirmed with a nod.

It was as if all panic dissipated and only nervous excitement remained. Everything was falling into place. She'd found Evie, Chuck said he loves her . . . _'Oh my, God, he loves me! Chuck. Loves. Me.'_ It was the best news she'd ever heard. She felt like frolicking up the street and screaming it at the top of her lungs, but thought it a very Chuckesque thing to do. Instead, she asked, "So now what?"

"I don't know," he shrugged and smiled brazenly, "but if that last kiss was any indication, I'm going to enjoy finding out." He gave her the Bartowski Eyebrow Dance.

Sarah felt the blood rush to her cheeks and laughed embarrassedly. "Yeah?"

"Definitely. Without a doubt in my mind."

They laughed quietly and fell silent, enjoying the stillness around them. Even though things were messed up, this, right now, was all she wanted to focus on, committing every detail to memory- the pounding of his heart, the feel of his clothes, his scent, how she felt in his embrace, the soft breeze brushing her hair out of her face- everything. She wanted to remember this moment for the rest of her life, because this moment is when her life truly started.

Finally, she said, "You know what?" and paused to look him in the eye, "I am too." She closed the distance between them and kissed him again, but made sure to keep it PG. It didn't ooze the franticness of their first kiss at the dock, or the desperation of their second in front of Roan, nor the passion of their third from moments ago but it did hold the sweet promise of more to come, of dreams yet to be realized. She broke away and cuddled against him, resting her head on his shoulder, content to just be. It'd been a long time since she'd been comfortable enough to be the person under the facade. Just plain Sarah – Chuck's Sarah.

* * *

And that's all she wrote. Thank you guys again so much for all your patience. I am extremely grateful =) Let me know what you think.

Oh p.s. Forgot the disclaimer as usual. Yeah, don't own Chuck but I will soon . . . that is, when the DVD comes out- which I'm so excited for. I've literally only seen maybe 4 episodes of season 3 so I can't wait to catch up before the new season.


	23. Chapter 23

A/N: Hey Hey. Thanks for all the reviews and to Bill for Betaing =) You all rock!

Disclaimer: Yep, not mine. Damn

* * *

Chapter 23

Casey sat finishing up his morning coffee before heading back to the hospital. Eve hadn't woken up before visiting hours were over last night so Casey told Chuck and Sarah to go home and he drove Beckman back. Trisha opted to stay with Eve, not that anyone would have thought otherwise. Trisha had asked Casey to tell Sarah to stay away until Eve woke up. She didn't want to risk Eve waking up to Sarah and having another attack just to get worse afterwards. It was valid reasoning in Sarah's mind but that didn't stop a flash of hurt from crossing her face as she relented. Casey would bet only he and Chuck caught it.

He took Walker's Eve file with him to study. She'd found almost every foster home Eve lived in, every school Eve ever went to. There were pockets of missing information like not knowing what happened to their mother which obviously was the catalyst to Eve entering the system. Sarah didn't have any record of Eve meeting Trisha in the hospital and she'd hit a brick wall after Eve turned eight. He knew why too. David had the adoption information buried so deep only a person dedicating innumerable amounts of time to figuring it out would be able to and Walker never had that kind of time. Graham made sure of it.

He polished off his coffee and reorganized the file to give back to Walker today. He took the mug to the sink and rinsed it out, staring down on it for a long time as he decided what to do with it. Grace almost had a hissy fit when she'd left their cups in the sink all day. He grunted questioningly, _'Where'd that come from?_' He shook it off and put the cup in the dishwasher, grabbing his keys from the counter. With the Eve file securely fastened under his arm, he made his way to the door, setting the alarm before exiting the apartment.

* * *

Chuck stirred in his slumber as a pair of slender fingers delicately danced across the back of his hand. Reacting with a mind of its own, his hand gently pushed up against the unknown intrusion to his sleep. Mindlessly the hands tangoed together in mid air before his was pushed heavily into an unknown barrier causing him to slowly regain consciousness. He lifted his hand to remove the added weight. In a haze, he made out the shape of fingers tangling themselves through his. He squeezed gently; testing to be sure there was actually a hand atop his own and not just a phantom from a dream. The gesture awoke the owner and they turned, seeking the source of their wakeful state.

Brown met blue with pause, each party studying the other's face. As listlessness gave way to need, their lips collided eagerly unsure of who moved first. It felt so good to finally be able to relish in their new found relationship. Sarah tried to deepen the kiss but with Chuck's weight pressing her down, it was a struggle to turn over. Without breaking for a breath, Chuck moved allowing her to adjust. Fighting for dominance, Sarah threaded her fingers through his hair and tried to push him down but Chuck would have none of it. With a splayed hand across her back, he dipped her until she rested once again on the bed. His fervent actions caught up to him and Chuck pulled back almost as if he were verifying that it was indeed Sarah beneath him, that yesterday had in fact happened, that this was real. With her body trapping his hand, Chuck felt her arch up to return her lips to his with a wanting pant. Reality settled in and he smiled brightly, obliging amorously.

The moment was interrupted by Sarah's phone vibrating on the nightstand and both glared despicably at the nuisance. "We can never catch a break," she groaned, dropping her head further into the pillow.

Chuck rested his forehead against hers, internally delighted to know she felt the same. With gusto, he kissed along her jaw line and then down her neck. "We could always just ignore it," he said.

Sarah sighed and turned her head, allowing him more access even though her words contradicted the action. "Hmm, tempting. _Very_ tempting. But it might be the hospital."

Chuck groaned disappointedly and pulled away with a nod. "Well, can't blame a guy for trying," he said working on getting up as she reached for her phone with a laugh. Before he got too far, Sarah grabbed his wrist and tugged him back for a small peck. He smiled and stood the rest of the way. "I'll go make some coffee."

Sarah nodded as she glanced down at the phone. As suspected, the ID came directly from the hospital. _'Must not be Casey or Beckman then.'_ Her heart pounded faster as she pressed the accept button. "Hello?"

"_Agent Walker? _

"Yes."

"_This is Dr. Williams. Do you have a moment?"_

He sounded apprehensive to say the least and it did nothing but make Sarah's heart rate increase even more. A simple conversation with a doctor was doing more to damage her calm than Chuck ever had in the past two years. Although he'd come close. _'Perhaps they're tied for first,'_ she amended. "What can I do for you, Doctor?"

"_I wanted to know, do you have time to come to the hospital today? I have some information I'd like to give you to look over regarding the donor process."_

"Oh, okay. I can do that," she said relaxing just slightly. "So . . . Evie's awake, then?"

"_No. Not yet. I'm merely thinking ahead. And . . . there is also something I'd like to discuss with you."_

The slight pause of his voice made all the uneasiness to return. "I see. What time would you like to meet?"

"_In an hour or so, if that gives you enough time. I'm not quite to the hospital yet."_

Sarah looked at the alarm clock. It was eight thirty now. An hour gave her plenty of time to get ready. _'And freak out,'_ she reminded herself. "An hour is fine. Should I, um . . . have you called Casey or-"

"_If it's alright I'd like to speak with you alone first. Without Eve's family, I mean. You're welcome to bring Mr. Bartowski with you or whomever would make you most comfortable."_

Sarah nodded and when she realized he couldn't see her, she cleared her throat. "Okay, yeah. Thank you, Dr. Williams."

"_I'll see you soon."_

Sarah dropped the phone like it was on fire and rubbed her hands on her thighs. Before her imagination could run wild,she got up from bed and went to the bathroom. She brushed out her hair, taking solace in the mechanical act before putting her hair in a messy bun. She opened the medicine cabinet and pulled out her toothbrush and toothpaste, noting that Chuck had once again chosen to live on the edge and purchase spearmint.

Once that was done, Sarah washed her face and patted it down with a towel, staring at her reflection in the mirror. It wasn't too long ago that she had been in the same position wondering what had changed within her. She hadn't known what it was then but now that she had it, she noticed the change even more. It lingered around the edges of her face- that euphoric happiness threatening to overtake the shadows of her past. It would have shown more if they'd gotten to do what she'd wanted last night. _'Morgan is such a cockblock,_' she thought, _'After two years of celibacy I finally get the chance and he has to go be all Morgan with Anna. I'll never understand their relationship. It's right out of a childhood playground.'_ Chuck- being the magnificent friend that he is- played an impromptu Call of Duty tournament with him all night. He'd been apologetic but Sarah dutifully, if not somewhat irately, reminded him that Morgan thought they'd been dating for a while so Morgan wouldn't understand. Hell, he probably wouldn't have understood anyway. _'Damn cover.' _

She would have settled for this morning except apparently the universe has an ill sense of humor and they couldn't because now she had to go to the hospital. She scowled. _'Great, my sister is dying. I'm potentially the only one that can help her and yet I'm frustrated that I couldn't sleep with Chuck?'_ She sighed and shut her eyes tightly. _'I am a horrible person.' _She should be happy that she found her sister. And she was except she didn't expect to find Evie in the state that she'd found her. 'Happy' seemed to be misplaced. Sad might be better. Or is it? She didn't know.

Chuck found Sarah in her bathroom, cataloguing her stance before speaking. _'Hands on the counter, elbows locked, head to chest. Must not have been a good call.'_ He put the mug of coffee on the counter and snaked his arms around her middle, kissing her neck lightly. The tension in her body ebbed some and he rested his head on her shoulder. Her eyes fluttered open and she met his gaze in the mirror. "Everything okay?"

Sarah nodded out of habit and turned in his arms to hug him back. He pressed his lips to her forehead, waiting it out until she spoke. "Am I a terrible person?" she asked.

"What?" He arched back to look her in the face. "Where did that come from?"

"It's just-" she paused thinking how to explain, "I'm happy, you know?"

"That's not a bad thing."

"But I shouldn't be, Chuck. How can I be happy when my sister is dying? How can I be frustrated about trivial things when her life could end tomorrow? I should be sad or worried. Not happy." Sarah's head shook confusedly. "I don't understand feelings. Feelings suck. It's a big suckfest of emotions and I hate it."

Chuck bit back a smile knowing it wouldn't help her to know he found her adorably amusing. Actually, it wouldn't help _him_ for her to know that. "It's okay to feel more than one thing at a time. You're allowed to be happy and sad and worried and frustrated. It's expected. Think about it this way. In a day, there are good things and bad things that happen but overall it can still be considered a good day, right? It's okay to feel sad for your sister, its okay to be happy for yourself. There's nothing wrong with that and it doesn't make you a terrible person." Sarah looked down and Chuck stooped to be in her sights. "It's completely normal, Sarah."

"I thought we decided I'll never be normal," Sarah replied sardonically.

"You're not," he shrugged.

She bristled, annoyed with the 'it's normal but you're not' conversation. "Then what am I, Chuck? Abnormal?"

"No." He reverently brushed her bangs behind her ear taking in every detail of her face and smiled. "You're fantastic."

Sarah blushed and turned away, any sign of self-depreciation wiped away. She bit her bottom lip shyly, sliding her arms up his chest to wrap around his neck. "You're a confusing man sometimes, Mr. Bartowski."

"I do what I can. Gotta keep you on your toes somehow." He bent forward and pressed his lips to hers.

Before things got out of control, Sarah stepped away and grabbed the coffee Chuck graciously brought her. _'Made to perfection, as if I should have had any doubts,'_ she thought. "You know me so well. How did that happen?" True, he may not know her real name or much about her childhood, but he knew her like no one else. He knew her because he tried to know her.

He smiled secretively, feeling pretty good about himself right about now. "Hmmhm. I'd give you a straw to chew but we don't have any." Sarah looked surprised for all of two seconds and shook her head. Chuck's grin widened as he snatched his toothbrush from the holder and put toothpaste on it. He had to keep one there in case Ellie or someone came over. "So who called?"

"Dr. Williams." Sarah took her makeup kit out of the drawer to finish getting ready for the day. "He has some information he'd like to give me about the donor process."

"Oh, so Eve's awake then?" he asked, talking around the brush.

"No. He said he's planning ahead but I think it might have been an excuse to call," she said leaning closer to the mirror.

Too much paste had foamed in his mouth so instead of saying anything, he furrowed his brow knowing she'd know what he was asking.

"He said he wanted to talk with me alone about something."

Chuck nodded and leaned down, spitting very carefully into the sink and then rinsed out his mouth. "Okay. I can hang out here-"

"Actually," she interrupted turning all of her attention to him, "I was kind of hoping you'd want to come with me, maybe. Unless you rather stay here, that's completely fine too."

"No, no. I'll go. I just didn't want to assume you'd want me there." He cleaned his brush under the flow and tapped it on the sink, then grabbed a towel to dry his face. "Anything you need. You know that, right?"

'_He's too good to be true.' _Sarah put her hands on either side of his face and gave him a chaste kiss on the lips. She pulled away but lingered by his mouth. "Thanks, Chuck."

He gave her a lopsided grin and rubbed his nose against hers. "Well, I'll leave you to it. I'm going to get dressed." He gave her a fast peck and duck out of the bathroom quickly to ward off any allure to the contrary. As much as it was sinking in recently, it was still hard to believe that Sarah wanted him. She wanted him in the room yesterday when she'd talked to the others. She wanted him to be with her when she learned something important today. She. Wanted. Him. He was so happy, he could scream. They'd hear him in China and wish they'd built a bigger wall.

Sarah laughed as he practically skipped out of the bathroom and turned to the vanity, resuming her morning routine. She was relieved that he'd be going with her. Chuck had a way of diffusing stressful situations and she needed that. The call from Dr. Williams made her nervous and the idea of running into Trisha after she'd asked Casey to tell her to stay away was not pleasant. She understood why Trisha was upset. Knowing your child was dying was upsetting enough. It must be difficult learning your child kept a big secret from you. Even she'd been a little hurt to know Evie never mentioned her.

Sarah finished up with her makeup and turned out the light. Outside, the weather looked bleak so she opted for a gray long sleeved shirt and jeans. She went to Chuck's room to get her phone. As she compulsively straightened the sheets to find it in the mess of bedding, she thought about the rooming situation. How was it supposed to work? What did he expect? They hadn't been in a defined relationship before but they kind of already bypassed the awkward sleeping in the same bed thing, right? She hoped. With the exception of the night they were first supposed to move in together and the first night they stayed in the same bed, all the other times have gone well. To be honest, it was nice to cuddle with someone, or more specifically Chuck, at night. _'Oh, yeah. We are definitely past that,'_ she thought, her mind wandering places nuns would refuse to go.

"Gah!"

Stunned from her thoughts, Sarah whipped her face to the door and saw a shirtless Chuck standing there. Her head tilted involuntarily to the side as she bit her lip taking in the sight. _'He's trying to kill me,'_ she thought contemptuously,_ 'Death by nerd.'_

"Sarah?" he exclaimed in shock. He didn't expect anyone to be there. "What are you doing in here?" Realizing his lack of clothing, he folded his arms across his chest. He didn't want to get his shirt wet while he was shaving so he was only wearing his jeans and chucks.

Sarah's flushed expression was thankfully covered by the dimness of the room. "I was looking for my phone," she said looking away before doing something extremely inappropriate. He was already halfway to where she wanted him to be.

Chuck sort of half turned away from her as he stalked to his dresser for a t-shirt. When his back was all that faced her, his shoulders eased down from his ears as he sifted through the clothing. "You found it then?"

"Yep."

"Great," he said, lacing his arms through the first shirt he found to pull it over his head. He smoothed out the shirt over his stomach and took a breath before turning to face her.

Sarah had to look away when his back muscles flexed together. _'No time. No time. No time.'_ She closed her eyes and took a calming breath.

"Ready to go?" he asked holding up her jacket.

She was a little displeased with herself that she hadn't noticed he left the room. "Yep." With a sigh, she shuffled to him. Chuck helped her put on her coat and guided her to move down the hall with his hand on the small of her back. He made sure all the lights were out while she opened the door and put her keys in the deadbolt. Once Chuck passed the threshold, Sarah shut the door and locked it. Chuck waited to walk with her to the car. Awkwardness hung in the gray atmosphere surrounding them as they set off side by side. Sarah's knuckles brushed against his as they walked. Going for bold, Chuck linked his fingers through hers giving her hand a reassuring squeeze. Sarah looked down bashfully, all the awkwardness swept away by the chilled breeze.

* * *

Trisha hadn't slept at all last night, save for the couple hours she'd dozed. She wanted to stay awake just in case Eve woke up. Even though the doctors said she was stable, Trisha couldn't help feeling like Eve might never wake up again. Until she saw her blue eyes again, Trisha wouldn't believe it. She sat beside Eve, studying her every feature, committing it all to memory, reminiscing in how far Eve had come since that broken child she'd met all those years ago, at how far she'd come.

Eve's eyes fluttered and if she hadn't been staring so intently, Trisha might have missed it. She reached out and took hold of Eve's hand. "Eve?" she whispered gently. "Come on, Baby Girl, open your eyes."

"Mom?" she croaked.

Tears fell in relief. "Yes."

Eve swallowed to moisten her vocal chords and weakly squeezed her mother's hand. "I'm sorry, Mom. I'm just so tired." Eve tried to open her eyes but the pull of darkness was too great.

"Eve?" Trisha let out a scared whimpered and shook Eve's hand. "Eve?" She looked at the monitor but none of Eve's vital signs had dropped. Trisha pushed the call button and a nurse entered the room in no time.

"Everything alright?" she asked quietly.

"She just woke up for a second there."

The nurse walked further into the room while setting her stethoscope in her ears. She warmed the metal in her hand before placing it against Eve's skin to listen to her breathing. The monitors showed normal vitals but just to be sure there was no mucus restricting her airway she listened. "Everything sounds great, Mrs. Fisher. I'll have the doctor come check on her too."

"Thank you."

"It's a pleasure."

Trisha raised Eve's cold hand to her cheek. "You have to be okay. You hear me?"

The on-call doctor wasted no time and immediately came to Eve's room. He followed the same procedure as the nurse, only without warming the metal end of his stethoscope. Eve gasped in her sleep when the cold metal touched her skin. He listened for a moment before replacing the stethoscope around his shoulders. "She's doing fine, Mrs. Fisher. It's normal for a patient to wake for a short time before falling back to sleep. Rest is the best thing for her now."

Trisha nodded. "Could you get my daughter an extra blanket? Her hand is like ice."

"I'll have the attending bring one."

"Thank you."

As the doctor walked out, Diane and John walked in. Casey watched him go and turned back to Trisha. "Everything okay?"

"Yeah. She woke up a little."

"Good," Diane said. "That's very good."

Trisha nodded and stood. "Well, I'm gonna get some air while you guys are here."

* * *

Sarah led Chuck by the hand through the hallways to Dr. Williams' office. The closer they got the tighter she squeezed and Chuck was two seconds away from screaming in agony. "Hey, Sarah? You okay?"

Sarah blinked confused. "Yeah, I'm fine. Why?"

"My fingers are purple."

"What?" She glanced down to their hands and saw that his were indeed purple and hers were white. "Oh." She let go and looked up at him. "Sorry. I guess I'm a little nervous."

"It's okay." He smiled supportively. He wiggled his fingers and the color returned to normal. "See? No harm done." They walked the rest of the way in silence. When they'd made it to the door, he asked, "You ready?"

She let out a deep breath, "Ready as I'll ever be," and then she knocked on the door.

Dr. Williams opened the door. "Agent Walker, Mr. Bartowski. Come on in." He led them over to the wall where a screen shot was illuminated by a backlight. "Thank you for coming in on such short notice."

"It's no problem," Sarah said.

He nodded and indicated the picture. "I wanted to go over these results with you. As you know, Dr. Woodcomb performed a DNA test along with checking your protein markers. The top strand is Eve's DNA and the bottom strand is yours." He pointed to each strand respectively.

Sarah studied the two strands carefully. She wasn't quite sure what to look for but she could see inconsistencies between the two. "They- they only half match. Shouldn't they completely match?"

"Mostly match. If you had shared a father."

She gave Dr. Williams a questioning glance, "Sooo we're only half-siblings?"

He nodded, "I believe so, yes."

"And what does that mean exactly?"

"On the plus side, it's a miracle you're a match for Eve. The gene discrepancy is from your mother's side. But on the down side, there's a higher probability that the transplant won't take."

"I see. How much of a difference is there?"

"Unfortunately, I can't properly ascertain a guess. It depends on the other tests."

"Okay. Well, my decision hasn't changed. I still want to do it if Evie says its okay."

Dr. Williams smiled, "Good. I was hoping you'd say that." He picked up a folder from the end table and handed it to her. "Here's the additional information for you to look over about the donor process. It explains both transplant options. I recommend the marrow over PBSC but I'd be remiss if I didn't offer both. If you have any questions, here is my card. I understand the need for this to be expedited and handled quietly so I've written my personal cell down for you. Don't hesitate to use it."

"Thank you, Dr. Williams," Sarah said walking to the door. Chuck held it open for her as they left.

"You're welcome," he said following them out. "Please, excuse me. I need to check on rounds." He shook both of their hands and left.

Chuck watched Sarah stare at the folder pensively. She leaned back against the wall and looked at Chuck. The file was maybe thirty pages thick but it hung like dead weight in her arms. "This is really happening, isn't it?" She swallowed. "I really found my sister. She really is dying and I really almost gave up everything to save her."

Chuck rubbed her arm. "Are you okay?"

"Walker? What are you doing here?" Trisha asked.

Sarah looked up in surprise. Great. Just what she didn't want to have happen. She opened her mouth to speak, though she didn't know what she'd say. Luckily Chuck answered for her.

"Dr. Williams wanted to give her information about the donor process in case Eve said yes. We meant no harm."

"No, no," she said frazzled. "It's fine. I- I didn't mean it like that. I'm just surprised to find you, that's all. Actually, it's good that you're here. I wanted to talk to you. Would you come with me to get some coffee? Alone?"

Sarah looked anxiously at Chuck and then nodded to Trisha. He took the file from her with a smile. "I'll wait here," he said and sat down.

Sarah shoved her hands deeply into her pockets and caught up with Trisha, sparing one last glance at Chuck before rounding the corner. Sarah wasn't worried about a physical altercation with Trisha but, for all intents and purposes, Trisha was her sister's mother. It was the same uncomfortable feeling Sarah had when she'd first hung out Ellie- not that that has gone away. It hasn't but at least Ellie was familiar. She didn't know anything about this Trisha lady.

Both women got their coffee and Sarah let Trisha lead them to a table. They sat across from each other in silence. Sarah didn't have the faintest clue what Trisha wanted to say to her so she waited quietly and took a sip of coffee, fiddling with the stir straw in her hand.

Trisha stared into her drink as if it had something interesting to say. Maybe it'll tell her what to say. _'Oh wise Coffee Gods, tell me how to start,' _she sarcastically joked to herself. She swirled the stir straw around in circles for a long while before speaking. She had to say something. She dragged the woman here after all. _'Okay so start with something simple.' _ "So how are you doing, Sarah? Can I call you Sarah?"

"Sarah's fine." She nodded. "I'm- fine."

Something about that answer made Trisha laugh and Sarah stared at her puzzled. "Oh, I'm sorry. It's just such an Eve answer, you know?" Her eyes watered with sadness. "She hates that question. Never gives a straight answer." She spun her straw around a few times before saying wistfully, "Must run in the family, I guess."

"I wouldn't know about that, Mrs. Fisher."

"Please call me Trisha." Sarah nodded and she thought, _'Alright. On to the real reason for asking her to come.' _ "Listen, I wanted to apologize to you. For yesterday. I was out of line to ask John to tell you not to come."

"Oh," Sarah waived off the apology. "That's okay. I understand."

"Yeah, but it shouldn't have happened and I'm sorry. As weird as it is to admit, Eve is your sister. You should be able to see her. I'm sure you're just as worried as we are. You searched for her for a long time."

Sarah nodded and took a sip of her drink.

"Not much of a talker, are you? I guess that comes with the territory. CIA Agent and all."

"I never really talked much before that either."

Trisha nodded and stayed quiet for a beat. "Where were you?" Sarah's brow furrowed at the question. "How come you left? What happened?"

_{Flashback}_

_It was late at night. Well past midnight. Her father had stormed out a few hours ago after yet another argument with her mother. She'd finally fallen asleep after assuring her baby sister that he would come back. He always came back._

_And he did, except this time, he woke her quietly. "Come on, Darlin'. Time to wake up." _

_She could smell what she's now come to learn is whiskey on his breath as she groggily replied, "Daddy?"_

_She felt herself being lifted from the bed. "Yeah, it's me. We gotta go."_

_She wrapped her arms around her dad's neck, dropping the blanket she's had since birth. "What about Evie?"_

_He kissed her forehead and smoothed her hair, pointedly ignoring her question as he rushed out of the room. "Be quiet. Momma's asleep on the couch. We don't want to wake her," he whispered._

_Knowing how her mom got when they woke her, she nodded quietly. Before she knew it, they were outside in the car, driving down the street. "Wait, wait! My blanket-"_

"_It's just a thing, Darlin'. You don't need it."_

_{End Flashback}_

Sarah shook off the memory and stared at the woman across from her. "I don't know how to explain it. All I know is my parents argued and the next day I was a conman's daughter. New name, new life. Everything was different." When it looked like Trisha was going to press her for more, she stood, the scratch of the chair legs against the floor halting anything Trisha might have wanted to say. "I should get back to Chuck."

"Okay, sure," Trisha said stunned by the abrupt move. As Sarah took a few paces away, Trisha called after her, "Sarah." Slowly the Agent looked over her shoulder. "You should know- Eve woke up for a bit this morning. If you want, maybe you could hang around for a while? She might wake up soon."

Sarah nodded and rushed out of the cafeteria.

* * *

Beckman and Casey sat in the silence only interrupted by the heart monitor connected to Eve. He wished he had his guns to clean or a bonsai to prune. Anything would be better than nothing. His phone buzzed and he took it out of his pocket. It was a text message from Grace.

_Hey. How are you doing? Ellie told me about Eve._

Without realizing it, John's mouth curved into a small smile. _Trisha said she woke up for a minute. Still waiting to see it for myself._ It took a moment for his phone to buzz again.

_Ah, I see. I'm glad she woke up though. That's good news. Do you need anything? Lunch?_

Casey thought about his response before sending it. He'd like to see her again- after all, he owed her a story or two and he was nothing if not a man of his word- but he wasn't needy. As much as he was reluctant to admit, he found himself thinking he might feel a little better if he saw her. So he kept his reply vague. _Eve might like some of that soup of yours for when she wakes up._

_Simple enough =) you're at the hospital right?_

_Yep. See you soon._

* * *

Sarah saw Chuck reading through the file Dr. Williams gave her. _'Exactly where I left him.' _He seemed deep in concentration, not even looking up until her shadow blocked his light.

"Sarah, hey." He shut the folder and focused all his attention on her. "Everything go okay?"

She sat down next to him as she replied, "Yeah, I suppose. She wanted to apologize for asking Casey to tell me to stay away. And then she wanted to grill me about my childhood." She rolled her eyes at the comment. "Okay, grill might be too strong a word but in any event, I didn't want to talk about it."

"Shocker."

Sarah looked at him with wide eyes full of anger but saw him wearing a teasing smile. He was toying with her. She pushed his shoulder and shook her head, fighting a smile.

"Oh come on." Chuck laughed at her antics and Sarah crossed her arms and turned away from him. "Sarah," he said singsong like, "I was only joking."

"I know but shame on you for making me feel bad."

"Sorry."

The smile came out of its own will at his tone and Sarah shook her head. She jutted her chin towards the folder and changed the subject. "Learn anything interesting?"

"Oh, some things. Apparently the process of donating can take three weeks or more between all the tests and determining if the patient is able to make it through surgery and stuff."

Sarah nodded contemplatively. Three weeks is a long time but Dr. Williams did say he understood this had to go quickly. Does that mean Evie doesn't have much time or what? "Trisha said Evie woke up for a while this morning. That's good, right?"

"I would say so." Sarah stayed silent and Chuck put his hand on her leg. "Now would be a good time to talk, Sarah. What's going on in that pretty head of yours?"

Sarah smiled and danced around the question, "You think I'm pretty?"

Chuck cocked his head at her. "I always think you're pretty," he said. "Stop deflecting."

She sighed and uncrossed her arms as she faced him. "I'm not sure what to think. I doubt things are . . . _fine_ between us. The last time I saw Evie was nearly twenty years ago. A lot must have changed- well, obviously, since she was adopted. Which begs the question of what happened to our mother? And why did my dad not take her with us? Did he know she wasn't his or was it something else? I can't ask him. Whenever I tried to bring it up, he'd get really upset so I stopped asking." She sighed again and rubbed her forehead. "I don't know. There are thousands of questions and not a lot of answers and . . . I just don't know."

Chuck rubbed her leg comfortingly. There wasn't an answer he could give to make her feel better but he could offer his support and understanding. It was good that she opened up and let him in some. He definitely sympathized with some of what she was going through. "Wanna get out of here?"

"Trisha asked me to stay. But we can go if you want though."

Chuck waived away the idea and sat back in the chair, "Nah. I got nothing better to do."

"Thanks, Chuck."

Chuck smiled mischievously and put his arm around her shoulder. He leaned in close to whisper in her ear, "However, if you do want to find a supply closet-"

Sarah's eyes widen as she slapped his chest hard. "Chuck Bartowski," she whispered harshly, looking around to make sure no one was listening, "Our first time is _not_ going to be in a supply closet."

"Oww!" He rubbed the soreness away. "I'm kidding, I'm kidding. However you want is fine by me."

"Good," she said haughtily. "It's my right since it should have been last night. It would have been, too, if not for your bearded little gnome of a friend."

"Morgan," Chuck gritted out. He was pretty angry at Morgan but he couldn't leave his best friend hanging, not after everything Morgan's done for him. Last night had been his own fault but Morgan got the assist. He shook his head. _'You made your bed. Now sleep in it.' _"Supply closets are totally a second time thing, anyway."

Sarah's jaw dropped with a laugh. "Wow! And now my mind is in the gutter." Her cheeks flushed as she thought of this morning, greatly considering changing her mind but held her ground. _'Oh, no you don't. You're not changing your mind.'_ She comically yanked the folder away from him, "You know some of us have things we need to do today." She settled into his side and opened to the first page, only half focused on what she was reading. This playful side of Chuck was something she could certainly get used to. He was shedding new light on himself everyday and it left a lot to be desired. _'Good things have yet to come,' _she thought with a smile.

Chuck hugged her to him in a loose, non-threatening choke hold and kissed the side of her head. He read over her shoulder for a while, debating with himself over his next comment rather than paying attention. He'd already read this part anyway. _'Well, in for a penny, in for a pound.' _His nose wrinkled at the thought, _'What's with all the old sayings?' _After a mental mind slap, he went for it, "Would it weird you out if I told you I've sort of been planning it from our first first date?"

Sarah dropped the paper and craned her neck awkwardly to look at him. "You have?"

"Oh, please. Like you didn't know? Freakin' Vicky Vale walks into the Buy More. I'm willing to bet you were in more than one nerd's fantasies that night."

Sarah smiled and moved her hands like a DJ on a turn table. "Vicky Vale, Vic-va-vicky Vale. Vickety, vickety. Vicky Vale, Vic-va-vicky Vale."

Chuck narrowed his eyes at her and replied flatly, "It's endearing how well you remember that."

"Oh, come on. It's from _Batman_," Sarah teased. "And I thought it was cute."

He gave her a sideways glance, somewhat shocked to learn that's what she'd thought then and shook his head at the memory.

Sarah chuckled at his expression and Chuck smiled. As the laughter died, she asked, "Would it weird you out if I told you I've thought about it since then, too?"

"Seriously?" he said in disbelief.

"Seriously."

"Huh." Chuck let that sink in for a moment and then said, "Why, Sarah Walker? I think you might just love me."

Sarah bit her lip sheepishly. "Yeah, I think I do," she said with a small nod.

His face dropped in astonishment. "Wha- what?"

Sarah sat up and looked him in the eye. "Chuck, that was the best date of my life, not counting the Casey part of course. I meant it when I said I liked you. You were different from anyone I've ever met. You are different. The best thing I learned from my father was reading people and there was no way you had any part in Bryce's plan. I knew it from the moment I met you. I've never been so happy that the government was wrong about something. And then our second first date was just as awesome, again not-"

"-counting the Casey part, I got it." He nodded.

"Yeah," Sarah said. "My life changed the moment I walked into that Buy More."

Chuck smiled widely. With a small shrug, he said, "Well, you know what they say? Third times a charm." He grabbed Sarah's hand and laced their fingers. "What do you say, Sarah Walker? Wanna go on a third first date with me?"

Sarah pretended to consider it for a moment and then smiled, "Okay."

* * *

Trisha picked up a book from the gift shop on her way back to Eve's room. It wasn't one she would normally read but it would pass the time. "Any change?" she asked, taking a seat in her designated chair.

Beckman looked at Trisha over the rim of her reading glasses. "Still the same," she said, resuming her work. She'd taken over the small table, piles of papers scattered over the tiny space. None of it was classified information but she did have to get some work done.

A few hours later, a new nurse came in around the time Ethan normally showed up. All three exchanged a glance at the new face. "Hi, I'm Georgina. I'll be the attending today."

"Where's Ethan?" Diane asked. She knew Ethan wasn't off until the weekend and though she shouldn't doubt this woman, they knew nothing of her before. Background checks needed to be done. As the woman crossed in front of the table, Diane squinted to get the name off her badge.

"Um, Ethan had a family emergency." She checked what needed to be done and recorded down her findings before exiting with a sweet smile. "Everything looks good. I'll be back in a little while."

Once the door clicked, Beckman was on her phone to her assistant. "Beckman, secure. I need a background check on a Georgina Nelson." There was a pause in the conversation as Beckman listened to the voice on the other line. "Thank you." She hung up the line and resumed working. Feeling as though she were being watched, she looked up at Trisha who was shaking her head. "What?"

"Nothing. I didn't say anything."

"It's not a crime to make sure Eve gets the best care possible."

"And you will be receiving no comment from the peanut gallery." Trisha mimed a zipper across her lips and held her hands up in surrender. If Diane hadn't done it then John would have. Trisha was sure of it. Hell, if she had the connections, she would have too. She buried her nose in the book again.

The door opened again to reveal Grace carrying in a couple paper sacks. "Hi," she said softly. "I come bearing gifts." She put the bags down on the counter and pulled out items inside. She left them in the containers and served one to each person in the room. "Here is a club sandwich for you, Trisha, grilled chicken for you, Diane, and a country fried steak for you, John."

Diane quirked a suspicious brow at Grace, "How did you know I liked grilled chicken?"

"I talked to Ellie," came the innocent response, "She told me what seemed to jive with you."

"Well, thank you, Grace," Trisha said.

"You're welcome," she replied with a smile. She left the thermos with the soup on the counter and took her vegetable tray out of the bag going to sit on the window sill by John.

He moved to stand. "You can have my seat-"

"It's okay, don't worry about it," she said grabbing a tomato. "I'll be way more comfortable on this than you. But thank you."

They finished their lunches quietly. Grace cleaned up all the containers and soda cans. When everything was done, she bit her lip awkwardly, wondering what to do now. She was out of place staying here so she should probably leave. She started thinking of a tactful way to exit while slowly gathering her belongings.

"Cards?" John grumbled near her ear. Why not have some company since Trisha is reading and Beckman is working? He didn't want to be bored any more than he could tell she wanted to be in the room.

Grace jumped a little at the syllable and then giggled once at her foolishness. "Okay."

John turned to Trisha. "We'll be in the cafeteria. Call if she wakes." And with that, the pair left.

* * *

While Sarah was focused on reading the packet Dr. Williams gave her, Chuck went to get snacks for them. As he went through the queue to pay he saw Casey sitting with Grace. Casey's back was to him but Chuck thought he appeared more relaxed than ever. There was still rigidity in his posture but his shoulder didn't seem as close to his ears nor his movements as jerky as before.

"That'll be thirteen seventy-five," the cashier said.

"Oh, right." Chuck juggled the two drinks and sandwiches while fumbling for his wallet. "Sorry." Just as he'd successfully gotten his wallet out one of the sodas tumbled to the ground, bursting open on impact. The hiss of the carbonation made all eyes turn to him and he froze. _'Perfect.' _He looked sheepishly at the cashier. "Sorry."

"You want another one?" she asked, watching the soda spray all over the ground.

He put the other items on the counter and drop to the flailing can, holding his hand over the crack to stop the flow. "Ah, yeah. That would be great."

"Fifteen twenty-five," she said holding her hand out for the money.

The mellow disinterest on her face made Chuck think she might have once worked for the Buy More. He sighed and dropped the can in the trash, shaking out his hands. He dried them on his pants and opened his wallet. The tackiness made the money stick to his hand as it passed from him to her. He got his change and went to go retrieve another soda. He jumped when he saw Casey standing in front of him. "Dah!"

"Way to keep a low profile, Moron." He dropped the can on top of the sandwiches in Chuck's arms. "What are you doing here? Where's Walker?"

Chuck grunted at his force. "Always subtle, huh, Buddy? If you must know, Sarah and I came to get information about the donor process."

He grunted. "Then what are you still doing here?"

"Trisha asked us- well, Sarah- to stay."

Casey's phone rang. Keeping his eyes on Chuck, he answered, "Casey." He listened to the voice and grunted accordingly. "I'll be right there." He broke eye contact and ended the call, putting his phone back in his pocket. He headed back to Grace and said over his shoulder, "Get Walker. Eve's awake."

* * *

Casey, Grace, Sarah and Chuck got to Eve's room and found Dr. Williams already talking to her. Casey opened the door and caught the tail end of the conversation.

"-blood counts showed no change," he was explaining, "However-"

Eve tensed when the quartet entered the room. She recognized her sister immediately and tuned out Dr. Williams, anger boiling within her. _'So she actually was here. I didn't just project that.' _There had been times in the past where she thought she'd seen her big sister but she was always wrong. Even now, she'd do a double take sometimes. When she was little she used to day dream about being saved by her but it never happened. Eve used to talk about her but that made people think she was crazy. There was no sister when the state took her. _'What is she doing here anyway? Why come now?'_ It wasn't until she heard something about a match that she tuned into Dr. Williams again. "What?"

Dr. Williams' eyes narrowed curiously. It wasn't like Eve to ignore the conversation. He pointed toward Sarah and repeated, "We've found a possible match for you. The sample given by-"

"I want my discharge papers," Eve interrupted. No way was she taking anything from Madame Desertion. She wouldn't risk getting her hopes up just to have her leave again. She'd already died once because of her.

"But Eve," Dr. Williams tried, "This could mean everything you wanted-"

"I want my discharge papers," she repeated coldly.

Dr. William's sighed sadly. "As you wish," he said walking to the door. Before going out he gave Eve one last attempt. "I'm surprised at you, Eve. Of every patient I've ever had, you're the only one I thought would never give up. I guess I was wrong." He waited to see if she'd reply but when nothing came, he shook his head and left.

The door closing finally broke everyone of their stupor. Eve felt them preparing to argue with her so she didn't give them the chance. "So, yesterday wasn't just a horrible nightmare?" It was more stated than asked. Eve turned to the window, opting to keep watch on the rain falling outside rather than the people in the room. She pulled the blankets tighter, not so much seeking out warmth. More like using the blanket to provide a force field from them. "Get out."

Sarah wanted to convince her to change her mind. "Evie-"

Eve felt the bile rise at her old nickname. "Especially you," she said. "Get out."

Trisha watched Sarah work to hold it together. Sarah looked at the wall and blinked back tears. She felt for Sarah, she really did. Leaving couldn't have been easy on her either. Eve was being unreasonable. "Eve-"

"No," Eve said with finality curling further away from the group. She didn't want to see 'Sarah.' She wanted nothing to do with 'Sarah.' She may have needed her big sister before but she doesn't want 'Sarah' now. The cancer won. She couldn't beat it alone so cancer won. She doesn't want 'Sarah's' help. She'll learn to accept death and be done with it. "I'm done, Mom. I'm done with being tired, I'm done with this stupid disease, I'm done with this treatment. I. Am. Done," she said angrily. Eve's eyes burned and before she knew it, she was crying. "Get out. I just want to be alone."

"Eve-"

"Get out! All of you. Get out! Leave me alone!" she shouted through her tears. "Just leave me alone."

Her tone struck fear in those that knew her best. They'd never heard it before. Everyone quietly shuffled out of the room. Trisha plopped dejectedly in the chairs outside Eve's room. She was shell-shocked. Why wouldn't Eve listen? They tears dropped in an endless flow down her face.

Diane sat next to her daughter-in-law, holding her as she cried. If she focused on Trisha, she wouldn't have to focus on her own grief. She offered no words of comfort because she feared it would only lead to empty promises and false hope.

Casey had yet to say anything. Grace watched him becoming angrier by the second. He huffed a few times as if trying to calm down but before he could manage it, he reeled back and threw his fist through the wall. The hallway dropped to complete silence at the sound and Grace flinched. The dust from the drywall clouded her vision but she could make out him moving to the exit. She looked between the huge hole in the wall and his retreating figure. "John!" she called out, starting to go after him.

"Let him go, Grace," Beckman said around the lump in her throat. "He'll be back when he gets control."

Chuck kept a close eye on Sarah, half expecting her to do the same thing Casey did or maybe start crying. But it seemed Agent Walker took hold and she stared into the abyss surrounding her. "Sarah-"

"I want to go." She walked away leaving Chuck to catch up to her. That hadn't gone how she'd expected it to go at all. She expected anger but not like this. Evie didn't even give her a chance to explain. Maybe she should have left with some closing remark, something to make Eve want to talk to her but words were never her strong point. Leaving however, was something she could do. _'Wasn't that the problem in the first place?'_

Chuck barely caught up to her before she got in the Porsche. She backed out before his door was shut. He knew better than to speak to her now. Of all the reactions she could have, this one scared him the most. It didn't help that she was flying down the slick roads with the gas peddle floored. He tightened his seatbelt and kept a white-knuckled grip on the handle while closing his eyes and praying. More that a few turns later, she screeched to a halt and was out before he could open his eyes. The door closed with a loud bang causing him to jump out of his skin. _'Oh, thank God we stopped.'_ He peeked out and realized they were at the Buy More Plaza. He scrambled for the seatbelt latch and got out, being sure to lock the doors.

The bell chimed as he entered the Orange Orange but Sarah was no where to be seen. He went to the freezer and entered his access code to Castle. As he made his way down the metal stairs he heard banging coming from the armory. Sarah slammed down loaded magazines on the counter and checked her firearm in a militant fashion. She shoved goggles on and slapped earmuffs over her ears. She punched the button to start the simulator and began a rapid fire assault against the imaginary enemies presented. As the magazine ran out, Sarah released it and shoved a full one in, barely pausing in her attack.

Two minutes later, the simulation ended and she started up another one immediately after. This continued until all the magazines ran empty and Sarah had prepared plenty of ammunition. The gun clattered to the counter as she hung her head like she had this morning. "She barely entertained the idea, Chuck."

Chuck worriedly watched Sarah trying to pull it together.

"She didn't even listen to it." She slammed the side of her fist against the counter. "She has every right to be angry. I expected it. But to completely ignore the opportunity- I never thought she'd do that. Fair enough if she never wants to speak to me again but why make Trisha suffer? And Casey? And Beckman?" Each name was punctuated with a loud bash. "They don't deserve that. I do. I deserve it."

Chuck took tentative steps toward Sarah. He caught her fist on the way to the counter in a vain attempt to keep her from hurting herself. It was too late though. He could already see the swelling on her wrist. When she tried to yank away from him he held strong and embraced her.

The grief was suffocating. She couldn't speak, she couldn't breathe. It was like the morning after all over again. She knelt to the floor to catch her breath. "Why wouldn't she do it, Chuck? Why wouldn't she do it?"

Chuck didn't know what to do besides let her know he was there. He wasn't going anywhere. One thing was for certain- he would talk to Eve the next chance he got. He'd make her understand. He had to, for Sarah. He couldn't let all her effort to find Eve be wasted. He wouldn't.

* * *

A/N2: Let me know what you think. The next chapter is almost to beta stages.


	24. Chapter 24

A/N: Sorry this is late again. My computer broke and my friend had it to fix so it's okay for now. I am looking into another because this one just needs to disappear, be smashed to smithereens or what have you. (Please not now though) My cat got really sick and started having seizures. That's one of the freakiest things I've ever seen. We went for the medication route but we ended up having to put her down. I've had her for the majority of my life and she lived a good 20 years so she is in a better place now. And there was other stuff on top of that but we won't go into that.

Anyways, thanks as always for your patience and thank you Bill for the beta =)

Disclaimer: I own nothing

* * *

Chapter 24

Sarah couldn't sleep. No matter how hard she tried, all she managed was tossing and turning. The short periods where sleep actually came lasted a measly thirty minutes and were filled with memories from her childhood. They came like an avalanche- wild and unstoppable. From the day she and her father left- to their many different cons- to the day of her father's incarceration and her subsequent recruitment.

Sarah rolled over and stared at the clock. Five forty-three. Five forty-four. Five forty-five. The green numbers flipped and changed mocking any attempt at rest. She let out a frustrated sigh and rolled away. What she wouldn't give to have a mission now. Since she couldn't force it if she tried, she changed into running gear. _If I'm up I might as well be productive._

While the sunlight hadn't yet peeked through the windows, it looked like it would be a nicer day than yesterday. As she entered the living room, she saw Chuck's foot dangling over the armrest of the couch backlit by the TV. Obviously he'd fallen asleep while watching his Firefly DVD. With a soft smile and gentle feet, Sarah moved to lean over the back of the couch, careful not to wake him. His body was twisted funnily so that his chest covered his arms to keep them warm but his lower body was on its side. Every so often he would tense and shiver from the chilled air. She went around to the other side and delicately draped the blanket over his sleeping form, stopping the shivering almost immediately.

Stepping back to sit on the coffee table, she watched him sleep, his steady breath giving her the sense of calm she'd tried all night to gain. _I should have asked him stay with me instead of choosing to be alone. We both probably would have slept better._ She took in every one of his features and committed them to memory for the nth time. The bruise around his eye had turned to a deep shade of purple but the small cut was healing nicely. She still couldn't believe how nice it felt to have someone stick up for her and not in a territorial sort of way but just because. He let out a contented sigh as her fingertips lightly brushed around the injury and down his cheek. The corner of his lip curled and he leaned into her touch. She pulled her hand away thinking she'd awakened him but he stayed asleep.

Taking that as a sign to go, Sarah stood and turned off the television. After leaving a short note for Chuck she set out at a steady pace, turning when she felt like it but putting no thought into where she went. To help clear her mind, she brushed up on her reconnaissance skills- observing people opening their shops, memorizing license plate numbers, locating cameras and cataloguing threats. It was second nature for a spy to do this anyway but the outward attention gave her the relief she needed from her inner thoughts.

Somehow, she navigated herself to the Buy More plaza. Emmett "Gag Me" Milbarf was on time for the inventory delivery, though it wasn't entirely surprising considering he planned his entire existence around the place. He spared a glare towards her as he was shutting the sliding glass doors. _Such a pleasant little weasel,_ she thought sardonically. She bent over for a rest, taking a minute to relish in the fire burning through her chest and the pins prickling her quads. Once her breath was sufficiently caught, she stood to full height and looked around the parking lot. _Well, now what? _She was too tired to want to run any further, but with her distraction gone, other thoughts moved to the forefront again and she needed something to do.

When the Orange Orange garnered her attention an idea came to mind. Ellie had mentioned that Chuck was searching for their father yesterday at lunch. At first she'd been mildly flustered he hadn't told her but they hadn't actually been together then so she couldn't rightfully be upset about it. She decided then that she would run a search for him through the Castle computer. Hopefully it would give Chuck another lead, if not the man himself. Time was running out to find him and Ellie deserved to have her father at her wedding. Chuck and Ellie both deserved to have him in their lives. _Well, no time like the present._

She went down to Castle and logged onto the mainframe. Pulling up the search function, she typed in Chuck's Dad's name and hovered over the enter button for a moment. _This could be considered illegal . . . I couldn't care less._ One mental shrug later, she pressed the button and watched the progress bar grow to three percent before stepping back to stretch her worn out limbs. As they started to loosen up her weariness became more evident. She let out a yawn and checked the progress bar. It'd only moved to sixteen percent. Knowing it would be a while, she went to a holding cell with hopes to rest up.

* * *

Ethan arrived at the hospital at nine thirty in the morning. For being early, it had already been a horrible day. He'd overslept, burnt his breakfast, no hot water, the bus was late and some dude spilt coffee all over his scrubs when said bus took off too fast. Hopefully all these events were just aftershocks of yesterday and would end as soon as he could step on the right foot. He knew the perfect remedy. A quick chat with Eve before his shift started would be exactly what the doctor ordered. With any luck it would help brighten her day too.

Before making a pit stop to change at his locker, he headed straight for Eve's room. Finding a freshly made bed and no patient caused Ethan's brow to wrinkle in confusion. _Wonder why she's been moved._ He went to the front desk to find Georgina or someone else who might know where Eve went. Luckily Georgina was leaving as he approached. "Georgina, where's Eve?" he asked, stopping her exit.

She closed the file she was carrying and looked at her friend. There had been some gossip circulating regarding the nature of Ethan and Eve's relationship. She didn't know if there was any truth behind the rumors, but she was a hopeless romantic at heart. Rules against it or not, she wanted it to be true. Ethan was a great guy and Eve was a great girl. It would be the perfect ending for a tragic love story. All the want was for not, though. Her eyes softened as she explained, "I'm sorry, Ethan. Eve asked for her discharge papers yesterday."

"Wha- why?" His eyes shifted in thought and he answered his own question, "Oh, no. The results . . . shit." Eve had told him if her blood test hadn't improved then she was done with the treatment.

Georgina's face scrunched in confusion as she replied, "The results for her donor? But they were a match-"

"No, her blood test- she has a donor?"

"Yeah. Dr. Williams said that-"

"I've got to go," Ethan interrupted as he ran away.

"Ethan!" she called out, confusion still prominent. But it was too late. He'd already disappeared.

Ethan ran so fast he almost passed Dr. Williams' office, skidding to a halt while grabbing the door frame. "Frederick? What's going on?"

Dr. Williams looked to the door, taken aback by what he saw. It appeared to have already been a bad day for Ethan. He looked disheveled. There was a large coffee stain down the front of his shirt; he was slightly out of breath, his unusually pasty complexion showed a mixture of horror and confusion. He put down the report he was reading and searched his desk for Eve's results to show him. "I'm sorry, son. It's not like we didn't try. Eve was . . . well, she wasn't herself."

"What do you mean 'wasn't herself?'"

"She was angry. She wouldn't listen to anything we said. I'm pretty sure she tuned out the whole conversation after I told her there was no change in the results."

"What about this whole donor thing? How come I didn't know about it?"

Finally finding what he was looking for, Dr. Williams said, "We didn't even know of the possibility. Here, take a look at these." He handed Ethan a copy of the test Dr. Woodcomb performed along with the DNA comparison. He gave him time to look over it and when all the implications settled in for Ethan, he said, "She said no."

Ethan's distress rose as he dropped the evidence on the desk. In an attempt to quell the dread, he paced in short little two step turns, running his hands up and down the sides of his face and through his hair. "This can't be happening. Why would she do that? She wanted . . ." he trailed off and fell in the chair, remembering their conversation. "Oh god, it's all my fault. I told her to decide if she really wanted to live. I told her to stop worrying about what everyone else wanted. I told her to be selfish."

Dr. Williams rounded the desk and leaned against it in front of him. "Ethan, it isn't your fault. She's a big girl. She can make her own decisions."

"I know, but come on." Ethan looked at him affronted. "The thought wouldn't have even been in her head if I hadn't said anything first." He shook his head. "I didn't know she had a sister. If I did, I would have told Eve to find her instead of all that other crap."

"You couldn't have known. No one did. Eve didn't even tell her family. It's like she didn't want them to know," Dr. Williams said. "And the other stuff wasn't 'crap.' You were being a good friend."

Ethan rolled his eyes and snorted. He slouched in the chair and looked at the ceiling, crossing his arms over his chest.

Dr. Williams watched his favorite pupil carefully. It'd been fun watching the friendship between Ethan and Eve grow. He knew all about the gossip going around. He was old not ignorant. Under different circumstances, he could see their potential. Love has a strange way of making the impossible possible. If anyone had a chance at changing Eve's mind it would be Ethan but he had to know for sure he wasn't misinterpreting things."She isn't just a patient to you, is she? You really care about her."

Ethan's eyes watered and he squeezed his lips. There was no use in denying it now. He swallowed the lump and said, "Lot of good it does me now. I know there are rules against it but-"

"It's okay," he patted Ethan's knee, "These things happen." With his decision made, Dr. Williams walked back to the other side of the desk to grab a pen and notebook. He wanted Eve to live as much as Ethan did. The world would be a far better place with more people like Eve in it. He scribbled on a sheet and tore it out, leaning over the desk to hand it to Ethan. "Here." Ethan rolled forward and took the paper from Dr. Williams as he explained. "That's where Eve is staying." The men's eyes meet across the desk, one with shock and one with determination. "Give her a reason to live."

In astonishment, Ethan sprang to his feet toward the door, not waiting to be told twice. A quick glance at his watch let him know it was nine fifty. If he hurried he could just make the bus. It'd be an hour or so to get there.

The renewed vigor in Ethan made Dr. Williams smile. "And Ethan?" He stopped and turned back to Dr. Williams. "Don't tell anyone I gave that to you."

With some hope restored, Ethan gave a flash of a half-grin. "No, sir, I won't."

* * *

A monotonous beeping sound awoke Sarah from her slumber. She searched around for the alarm but it was no where to be found. Cracking her eyes open, she realized she was in a holding cell at Castle. With a grunt and moan, she stretched her stiff limbs. The noise must be coming from the computer. She stood and padded out of the cell rubbing her tired eyes. The first thing she noticed was that her phone was lit up. Before looking at the computer Sarah grabbed her phone and saw that she had one new voicemail. She pressed send and listened to the message.

_Hey, it's Chuck._

His uncertainty made her smile.

_Uh- sorry if I'm interrupting your run. I'm not really sure when you left your note and you didn't answer my text so I wanted to make sure you were okay is all. Please don't be mad. I'm just . . . worried. Call me back._

Sarah's brow furrowed as she looked at the time stamp. It was almost eleven o'clock. Her eyes widened in surprise. She'd been sleeping for longer than she'd expected. Chuck's voicemail had been left less than five minutes ago but his text was from an hour ago. She dialed his number while scanning through the search results.

"_Sarah! You're alright."_

Not trying to hide her sheepishness, Sarah said, "Yeah, I'm sorry, Chuck. I ran to Castle and fell asleep in one of the holding cells." Her tone took a distracted turn when she saw there was a hit.

"_You okay? You seem distracted . . ."_

_Of course he would notice, _she thought as she wrote down the information and broke off the connection with the server. With an immediate change to her demeanor, she said, "I'm fine. But could you come get me?" She navigated through Castle to her locker to get the emergency stash of clothes inside.

"_Of course. I'll be right there. Are you hungry? Do you want me to stop and grab food?"_

Sarah held the phone between her shoulder and ear as she entered the combination. "That is a great idea. We have a long drive." With the traffic and his stop, he'd be at least forty minutes, leaving her with plenty of time to get ready. She pulled out her bag and made her way to the shower.

"_We do? What's going on?"_

"Just be quick but don't kill yourself. I'll explain on the way."

* * *

It took Ethan an hour and fifteen minutes to get to the complex and another thirty to get up the nerve to walk past the mailboxes. He spent the whole bus ride trying to figure out what to say to say when he saw her- _If she let me see her_- but so far all he had was 'hi.' _Writing a book is not in your future._ Figuring 'hi' was as good a place to start as any, he stepped into the Spanish styled courtyard and squinted to the far away apartments looking for the correct number. None of those were right but the count down led to the one located to his left. Within three strides he stood in front of the door. Even though he had the address memorized, he still pulled the folded paper from his pocket to double check if he had it right. _Well, this is it. _With a deep breath he rapped against the wooden door and waited anxiously. His nerves started to get the better of him and he bounced on his toes, trying to work though it. The thought of ditching came and went. It was too late anyway. The door opened and Trisha stared at him.

"Ethan," she said with confused surprise, "What are you doing here?"

"Ah- hi, Mrs. Fisher." He smiled unsurely. With a gulp he pressed forward with the plan. "Um, I was kind of hoping to talk to Eve."

Trisha's face fell as she gave him a regretful smile. "I'm sorry, Ethan. She doesn't want to see anyone. She's barely talking to any of us."

"Please? I'd like to try." When it looked like she wouldn't let him, he added, "I'll only be a minute."

Trisha sighed and waived him in, opening the door wider. "Alright. Wait here. Let me tell her first." She went up the stairs, leaving him in the foyer.

Diane and Casey saw Ethan in the doorway and exchanged curious glances.

Ethan's nails dug into his palm nervously. He smiled tightly and nodded to each respectively. "Ma'am. Sir."

"Okay, Ethan, you can go in now," Trisha called from the top of the staircase and he rushed forward taking the stairs two at a time.

Diane leaned closer to Casey. "Maybe he'll knock some sense into Eve."

Casey grunted in agreement. It wasn't for lack of trying on their part but when she would speak, Eve remained insistent that she was done.

As Ethan reached the top, Trisha stopped him with a cautionary hand on his arm and whispered, "She's pretty mad. Don't take anything mean she might say to heart, okay?" She gave him an encouraging smile and nod before heading downstairs to make lunch. The thought of eavesdropping lingered in her thoughts but she couldn't bear it if Ethan was unable to break through Eve's defenses like she wanted him to.

Ethan took a resolute breath and rehearsed to himself one last time, _Hi._ As the door swung open, the first thing he saw was Eve's back. She sat on the bed, staring out the window as if refusing to acknowledge his presence. He crossed the small distance between them and sat next to her. The air was thick with despair. Her coldness was unexpected even with all the warnings. When he opened his mouth to speak nothing would come out. His original plan of 'hi' seemed supremely inadequate. _I should have thought this through. _Maybe a reverse psychology approach would work. Then she would have to speak first. Yes, that'll do. Satisfied with the new plan, he settled in to his seat and tried to figure out what she was staring at outside, determined not to show his discomfort. They sat for ages before she finally spoke.

"What are you doing here?" she asked monotonously, focus solely out the window.

Her voice cut through his thoughts and he turned to her. _Wow she sounds bleak. This is going to be harder than I thought._ He swallowed to moisten his throat and said, "You didn't say goodbye before you left."

She waited for a measured breath. "Goodbye."

"Come on, Eve. Don't be like that."

"Like what, Ethan?" She turned to look at him and he saw all her pain. "Sad, angry, depressed? Those aren't satisfactory things to feel right now?" she asked bitterly. She crossed her arms in an attempt to distance any rebuttal from him. "You told me to be selfish. This is me being selfish."

He turned his body to her. "No, it's cowering. You have a perfectly decent chance of beating this again but you're going to let your frustration keep you from trying."

"Ugh, I think it's a bit more than frustration, Ethan. It's just a dang shame we can't all be as strong-willed as Mr. Perfect."

"I'm not perfect."

"Yeah, you coulda fooled me with your healthy body and your perfect hair and your all-wise anecdotes." She looked out the window again. "Just leave me alone, Ethan."

His jaw dropped in disbelief. He never thought she'd be like this. This wasn't the Eve he knew. "Wow," he shook his head, "When you lay it on, you lay it on."

"What does that mean?"

"It means that when you play your 'pity me' card you do it with a vengeance." He knew she didn't like that word so perhaps using it would get her to let out some anger and he could get in. It hit the mark.

Her nose wrinkled with distaste as the anger flared. That word. Pity. She hated it. She hated seeing it on the faces of her doctors, of her family and friends. With every fiber of her being she loathed that combination of letters. Her jaw clenched with fury. "I didn't ask you to pity me. I asked you to leave me alone."

"You shouldn't be alone-"

"Why? You worried I might do something stupid?" Eve said flippantly.

His calm demeanor shifted as fire started burning behind his eyes. "Well, I'm too late for that right?" he responded, "You already are doing something stupid." He knew she was being facetious. At least he hoped it but he still couldn't believe she said it.

"Oh, you know what? Don't bother playing your 'knight in shinning armor' card on me, okay? I don't want it. There's nothing left to save."

Ethan's jaw ticked as he stared at Eve. The idea that she thought there was nothing left to save made his blood boil because she was wrong. _There are a plethora of things to save,_ he thought and said the first thing that came to mind, "You owe me a date."

It was enough to throw her off guard. Her anger slipped into incredulity, "What?"

He was going to continue past that except the words had startled him, too. _That's the one you're starting off with?_ Through his surprise, his tone wavered from anger to something mixed with enlightenment. "That's right. You owe me a date and I want to cash in."

"A date?" Eve repeated disbelievingly. "You're really doing this because of a _date_?"

"Yes."

Eve huffed with appall. "Well, tough luck. It's over. I'm done. I'm not getting better. I'm not getting worse. I am, however, getting fed-up. I didn't choose to be sick but I can choose to be done."

"But why?" He threw his hands out to his sides. "Why be done when you have a chance? Why won't you let your sister help you?"

"Because I don't need _her_ help," Eve spat. "I stopped needing her the day she walked out of my life. If I can't beat cancer on my own then that's it."

And there it was- the center of her fury. It wasn't what would help her, it was who. "Eve, we're not asking you to have a relationship with her. Use her so you can keep your relationships with us. We want you. Don't walk out of our lives too."

"I'll remind you again. _You_ told me to be selfish."

"You're right. I did tell you to be selfish. Clearly, I didn't think it through all the way. And besides, I told you to be selfish not cruel. You have the biggest heart of anyone I know. Please, I'm begging you. Saddle up. Play your 'knight in shinning armor' card because I want to keep you. I need you."

"You don't need me, Ethan."

Her tone was condescending but he ignored it. "Yes, I do. In the short time I've known you you've managed to make me feel more like myself than I have in a long time. I need you to keep my sanity and the memory of you won't be enough. So I do need you. And I want you. And goddamn it if I don't love you."

The world stilled as Eve's eyes widened in shock and dismay. _Love?_ A rush conflicting emotions from joy to despair swamped her system, garbling any response she might have had. The honesty behind his words, his open expression- it all scared her immensely so she focused on the floor, shutting her eyes tightly. She didn't want to hurt him but why couldn't he see that it was too late for her? _You have to protect him from himself._ She tried to deny his words but even to her it sounded feeble. "That's impossible. You can't mean that-"

"But I do." Ethan was just as surprised he'd said the words too. They weren't untrue but he didn't think he'd say them this soon let alone in this setting. He grabbed her face in both of his hands, forcing her to look at him. "I do love you, Eve. You're the strongest, kindest, most sincere person I've ever met. You're beautiful and smart and funny. You mean everything to me. I could come up with a million reasons besides just a date to want you to live but the most important reason is because you are you, and without you I'd still be treading water." He watched her face carefully, trying to discern her reaction. She was swallowing a lot and he could see the wheels spinning in her head but she didn't say anything. "This, right now, the way you're acting? There's a big difference between this and selfishness. This isn't you at all. You are not this person."

Eve's eyes welled with tears, fighting to keep her walls up. _Don't let him in. _She bit her lip and shook her head, pulling away from him. "I don't know who I am anymore. I've tried so hard to stay positive when the whole time the thought of death was there. I always knew it would come to this. From the moment I got that damn diagnosis, I knew it was over. I just couldn't accept it."

One of the things he admired most about her was her rationale and more than anything he wanted her to use it now. Especially when she has a chance. "Then don't accept it now, Eve." He knelt in front of her and caught her hands in him. "Please? I know it will work. It has to work."

"It might not," she cautioned. She had to be realistic after all.

"Well, then, wouldn't it be easier knowing you exhausted every last opportunity you had to get better?"

Eve stared into his open, watery eyes pleading with her to try, to get the fight back. The anger was slipping away at his insistence, no longer able to hide the truth behind it. She averted her eyes and said shakily, "I'm not nearly as strong as you think I am, Ethan. I . . . I'm scared." She hoped he'd understand that it was more than just the surgery. Truthfully, that part wasn't so bad but he scared her. Her sister scared her. _She_ scared her.

"Fine. Be scared. You have every right. But don't let that keep you from taking the chance. Isn't that what your grams said?"

This wasn't supposed to be how it went. She was supposed to stay angry. Anger was the single, solitary emotion that could cloud everything else- the fear, the uncertainty. But he just had to come in here and ruin her little box of anger. She could feel her desires shift and adapt to what Ethan asked of her. Two tears fell and her lips trembled. "God, you must really want that date," she said trying for a joke but it didn't sound funny. It sounded tragic.

He indulged her attempt with a small laugh. It helped him not to cry. He wiped away her tear with the pad of his thumb. "You have no idea."

Eve's eyes slid shut as she involuntarily leaned into his caress. She'd already decided it was over and making that decision wasn't something she particularly wanted to do again. Getting her hopes up just for it to not work out would be too much. The first time was bad enough. Though it seemed fate was handing her a mulligan. She should get past the fear and resentment and take it, but she'd need help. She took a deep breath in and asked meekly, "Will you . . . will you be with me?"

He swallowed the lump that formed in her silence. "Every step of the way," he said with conviction.

"Okay." Eve opened her eyes and nodded slowly. "Okay, I'll do it."

Ethan let out a huge breath of relief, a single tear falling when he blinked. "Oh, thank God," he said and kissed the back of her hand.

* * *

Chuck got to Castle carrying a brown paper sack. "Sarah? Where're ya at?" Sure she called but he wanted to see for himself that she was okay. His imagination had gone wild when she didn't answer his text or his call and it didn't seem to want to simmer down until he saw her. He'd been about ready to call Casey if she hadn't called back when she did.

"Hi, Chuck."

He turned to see Sarah leaning against the metal frame around the conference room. "Hi." The relief was evident in his voice and on his face. These past few days had been an emotional whirlwind for her. She could take care of herself physically but he would do everything in his power to make sure Sarah would be relatively unscathed emotionally. And, thankfully, she looked a lot better than yesterday. "Are you okay?"

She pondered the question for a moment with a sigh. "I will be," she answered, "_eventually_, I hope."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Sarah shrugged and waived woefully as she stepped further into the room. "I don't know what to say." She gripped the chair at the head of the table. "I couldn't sleep so I went for a run to clear my head and ended up here."

"That's a long run."

"I suppose," she said looking down. When she looked up, Chuck was watching her with an unreadable expression. She didn't know if he was angry or what so she apologized. "I'm sorry I didn't answer when you called. I left my phone by the computer when I went to lie down."

Chuck put the sack on the table so his hands could be free. "Hey, no worries." He took two steps toward her and grabbed her hands off the chair. "It's all okay now," he said smiling softly and gave a reassuring squeeze.

Sarah smiled. "Okay."

Chuck let go of her hands and went back to the food. He pulled out a burger from her favorite burger joint. "Medium rare, extra pickles. Just the way you like it."

She smiled wider and bit her lip, taking the burger from him. For all of his attentiveness being on the little things it sure made a big impact. He always came through.

Glad to see her happy again, Chuck rummaged through the bag for his food. "So what is this long drive we're going on for?"

"Well, Ellie mentioned something yesterday," she said, "about the search you were doing for your father."

Chuck paused and his eyebrows rose. "Oh, you . . . okay."

"Why didn't you ask for help? I would have helped you."

"It's not that I thought you wouldn't. I wanted to do it by myself. To prove that I coul- that I was . . . well, I guess it doesn't matter." He chuckled in self-depreciation. "I failed. He doesn't want to be found."

Sarah assessed him carefully, gauging if he would see it as overstepping her bounds. She couldn't stand him being so hard on himself so she told him. "I found him."

"Wh- what?"

"I accessed the government database and did a search for him." She took the paper out from her back pocket and handed it to him.

"Sarah," he said exasperated, "that's exactly what I didn't want to have happen. You could get in a lot of trouble-"

"I know," she silenced him with a hand. "But it's worth it. You're worth it."

A grin started behind her fingers. When she pulled her hand away, Chuck asked with awe, "You broke the law for me?"

She shrugged abashedly. "Only a little." It was more than that but he didn't have to know she could be fired and charged with misappropriation of government intelligence. _What's one more mark on an already colorful record?_

His eyes bore into her with an intensity she'd never known. "I love you, Sarah."

Sarah drew her lip between her teeth and cupped his cheek tenderly. As she looked into his eyes, her smile grew and she pulled him down for a kiss, saying with an action what she couldn't bring herself to say with words. His lips were soft against hers and resulting butterflies left no place for the residual tension she felt. The kiss ended and she said, "I've wanted to do that all day."

Chuck laughed. "I'm not complaining."

Sarah pulled out a chair and sat down to eat. She flattened the wrapper from her burger on the table until all the edges rested flat against it. She picked up her tasty treat and almost moaned at the flavors dancing across her tongue. She watched Chuck take a bite of his food and then take a drink to wash it down, frowning at the realization that his cup was empty. He shook the beverage to move the ice around either trying to get the last of it or thinking the action had somehow spontaneously replenished the drink. It was always the same. Anytime they'd get take-out, he'd always drink his whole drink before they got home and then frown as if wondering where it all went. She'd always tell him to wait but he'd never listen. This time she had a plan. To stop the annoying slurp, she'd taken to having a spare can of his favorite drink on hand so he could have a refill. Fortunately she hadn't had to try deploying the little trick until now. She shook her head and went to retrieve it from the refrigerator, taking her burger with her and finishing off the last few bites. With her hands free, she opened the can on her way back and wordlessly took the cup from him to fill.

Chuck looked up at her in shock, finding the slight furrow to her brow as she poured amusing. She got so agitated with him the first time he slurped his drink. He tried not to do it around her but he couldn't help wanting to get the last remnants of deliciousness before throwing it away- especially when they had a long drive. Most of the time he left a little bit in the cup so he wouldn't, but sometimes . . .

She could see him in the corner of her eye. He was so stunned. One cheek bulged like a chipmunk where his food sat and a devilish little plan came to mind. With a small smirk, she asked innocently, "Chuck, why'd you sleep on the couch last night?"

Chuck sputtered and choked on his food. Sarah smiled while shoving his now full drink under his nose. He drank hungrily from the beverage, clearing out the last remnants of food from his windpipe. He sucked in air and beat his chest a couple times. "Ah- what?"

Sarah held back laughing thanks to years of training. Chuck was as red as a cherry. It was adorable. "You slept on the couch. Are you avoiding me?"

"What?" He swallowed nervously and stuttered, "N-no. I'm not avoiding you. I thought you wanted to be alone."

She pulled his chair away from the table to give herself enough room to slide onto his lap. "I admit I wasn't the most forthcoming yesterday but I do like being around you." She played with the hair at the base of his neck with one hand and ghosted the other across his chest circling the top button as if deciding to undo it or not. A slight blush rose on her cheeks as she shyly confessed, "I find that it doesn't matter where I am, I feel the most comfortable when I am with you."

Chuck felt himself flush deeper at the confession. "Really?"

"Yes," she said. "Just because your mind went to the gutter doesn't mean that mine did. Although-" she trailed off pressing her lips along his jaw.

Chuck shifted awkwardly as she bit down on his neck. "Wh- what are you doing?" he asked, desperately trying to keep his desires at bay.

"What's it look like?" she asked between kisses.

"H-here? You want to do this here?"

"Not really. It'd be significantly harder to concentrate in briefings. That said, I'm open to breaking the ice if it means you sleeping with me." She knew he'd never go for it because, face it, he was Chuck. He'd want something special for their first time. She could use a little special.

Chuck shut his eyes and tried to latch on to any coherent argument to dissuade her pursuit though she was making that entirely too difficult- nipping and biting and . . . _Was that her tongue? _He wasn't too sure he knew his own name at the moment. Her weight pushed him to lean back in the chair and his eyes opened at the sensation of falling, landing on the best excuse in the book. "Cameras!"

Sarah sat back at his sudden declaration, "Relax. I'll block the signal." She pushed off him and went to do just that when Chuck scrambled to his feet, knocking the chair over. She smiled before turning around to see him frantically trying to pick up the chair.

"Sa-" he said trying to right the fallen chair, but it wasn't working in his haste only managing after his third attempt. "Sarah, wait."

"Yes, Chuck?"

"I don't think we should do it now. Believe me, it's not that I don't want to or anything. I just thought that- I don't know- now that we're together, I thought I could court you like a proper boyfriend."

"Chuck, you've courted me for two years."

He held up a finger in consideration and said, "Point." He drew in a breath as thought about how to explain. "Okay, look. I know I said we could do this how you wanted but here? Really? I'd like it to be better than that. You deserve better than a quick frenzy. I'd like to take you out to dinner and maybe for a walk on the beach or dancing, something. The point is, it should be a date you'll never forget and if the feeling is right, _then _we can do the other stuff."

Lord, if he wasn't turning her into a romantic. She knew all along he'd say no to it here but she couldn't help her heart fluttering at just how special he wanted it to be. "Okay, but you still have to be in the same bed as me even if we aren't doing anything. Promise?"

"Cross my heart," he said miming the words.

"Good."

Chuck sighed with relief. "Awesome." Sarah Walker was dangerous when she was seducing a person. He had no doubts that if he were keeping something from her, she'd be able to get it out of him.

They finished lunch cleaned up their mess. They'd never hear the end of it from Casey if they didn't. Sarah put on her jacket and grabbed her phone. "So, you're dad isn't too far from here but it's still a few hours drive. We can be back by dinner." She held out her hand and wiggled her fingers expectantly.

Chuck's shoulders dropped, "Aw man. I thought I was gonna drive." He dropped the keys into her waiting hand.

Sarah laughed and led the way out of Castle. "If you drove, it'd be an overnight trip."

"Just because I follow the speed limit . . ."

* * *

Eve was laying on Ethan's chest thinking. They hadn't said anything to each other for a while. In fact, if it wasn't for Ethan's fingers running through her hair, she might've thought the whole conversation was a dream. She couldn't believe how poorly she'd treated her family. Her sister coming back had been a huge shock, yes, but it wasn't fair to treat them badly no matter how difficult it was to see past the person who abandoned her. They loved her when no one else would and all she'd done was throw anger at them. The anger she held toward her sister is what kept her from immediately accepting the transplant. She knew that now. If it'd been anyone else, even after she'd already decided it was over, she would have jumped at the chance. But it just had to be the one person she spent her whole life trying to forget. The idea of her sister being the one to save her after all this time was somewhat poetic if not completely strange.

Ethan felt Eve's silent tears drop to his shirt but said nothing only squeezing her tighter. He wouldn't know what to say to comfort her but he knew from his mother that the most important thing was to just be. That's all. Just be and don't judge.

Eve sniffled and sat up, wiping at her tears. "Guess I should go talk to my family, huh?"

He nodded understandingly. "Do you want me to stay?"

Acceptance flirted with the tip of her tongue but she gave a small shake of her head instead. "You are supposed to be at work-"

"Eve, if you want me to stay, I can. Don't worry about my job. Two days missed isn't going to break me."

Eve smiled gratefully. "Okay. But stay here. I'll talk to them first."

"You got it, Dude." He smiled and winked.

She laughed as she got off the bed. "Really? A wink?"

"Encouragement."

"Oh, brother," she said walking out the door. She crept down the stairs quietly while she figured out what to say. Peering cautiously into the kitchen, she saw no one was there but whatever they'd had for lunch made her stomach churn and she fought down a wave of nausea. She sat on the steps leading down to the living room and brought her hands up to her mouth, taking quiet breaths trying not to alert her family. They were all in the living room. Grams was on the computer, Mom was flipping through TV channels and Uncle Casey was trimming his bonsai tree.

Once Casey realized what she was doing, without a word, he went to the kitchen to get a bowl just in case. His movement made Trisha and Beckman notice Eve for the first time. The slight sheen of sweat across Eve's brow notified Trisha of the impending result. She rounded the couch and sat next to her. "Its okay, Baby Girl," she said, gathering Eve's hair so it'd be out of the way with one hand and resting the other on Eve's leg comfortingly. "Diane, will you open the door to let fresh air in, please?"

Diane passed Casey as she went to the door. Casey put the bowl between Eve's feet and Eve let it go. Knowing Eve wouldn't want an audience, he left to get her a glass of water and a cool wash cloth.

Eve leaned forward with her forehead against her forearms. Unbidden tears dropped into the bowl. No matter how mean she'd been to them, they all still took care of her. "I'm sorry."

Trisha soothed her. "There's nothing to be sorry for. A little throw up never hurt anyone."

Eve smiled despite herself but her mom's attitude just made her cry harder. "No, I meant about yesterday and today. I've treated you guys terribly and I'm sorry." Eve sat up and wiped her eyes futilely. Casey handed her the glass of water. "Thanks." She took a sip while Diane joined group. Eve swished the cool liquid around her mouth before spitting into the bowl. "I just- I don't know what overcame me but it wasn't fair to hurt you guys."

"Evelyn, you're fighting a terminal illness. I think you have a right to get angry every once in a while," Trisha said. "But it might help you not blow up so much if, in the future, you let us in a little. I know it's hard for you to ask for help but we are all here for you. We all want what's best for you and if you think . . . letting go is what's best for you then we'll figure out how to cope with that."

"That's the thing, Mom. I don't want to die. I want to live. I just don't want it to be because of her."

"Oh, honey-"

"Please don't try to placate this. She left me with an abusive, drug addicted socio-" Eve stopped and pressed the heel of her hands to her eyes, taking a moment to clear away the memories. "You know what, it doesn't matter anymore. What matters is that she can fix this but I don't want to ask her. I don't want to have anything to do with her. I just want it to be like any other donation, okay?"

"You've decided to do it?" Trisha asked, hardly believing her ears.

"If she's still willing."

Diane felt washed over with relief. "I'm sure she is. I'll talk to her if you'd like."

"Thanks, Grams, but just don't order her to do it. I know you're her Superior Officer. On second thought, maybe Uncle Casey should do it."

Trisha put her hand on Eve's arm. "Honey, I'm sure Sarah won't need to be coerced into doing it."

Eve couldn't help the flare of jealousy in her chest. "You're on a first name basis with her?"

"Eve, don't. It's not like that."

Eve pounded her fist against her forehead, trying to knock the foolishness away. "Sorry. I'm overreacting, I know." She took a deep breath and changed the subject. "What about you, Mom? Are you okay? Have you taken-"

"Yes, I've taken my medicine. No panic attacks. Don't worry about me, Baby Girl. I'll be fine. You just concentrate on getting better and staying strong for the surgery."

"Okay," Eve said resigned. "I really am sorry."

"Forget it. It's done," Casey said, speaking for the first time. He grabbed the bowl from the ground and walked away. "Consider changing your pants. And make sure the Boy Scout is out of there first. I'd hate to have to break his face."

The three ladies snorted back a laugh. Such unique humor from the burley man. Humor but true. He would do it in a heart beat. "Will do, Uncle Casey," Eve giggled.

"I'll call Dr. Williams," Trisha said.

* * *

Chuck and Sarah made the long drive to BFE, California. How Sarah managed to find a tin can off the beaten path on the side of a hill Chuck will never know. It's no wonder he'd had issues finding him. And now that he was standing here, he could hardly believe it. "Well, I guess this is it," Chuck said staring at the mobile home.

The wind wisped her hair around her face. It was difficult to see through but not so difficult that she couldn't make out the hesitance on Chuck's face. "Go on, Chuck."

He gave her a tight smile and went to the door stopping just short of knocking. "Shouldn't it mean something that I couldn't find him? I mean, he didn't want to be found. The only reason we are here right now is because you illegally accessed-"

"Chuck, its okay. He's your father. There's no need to be nervous."

With her gentle persuasion, Chuck sighed and raised his hand to knock. The metal gave off a hallow resonance in the breeze. He waited for a sound or signal- something to tell them that there was life inside.

None came and Chuck's face fell but Sarah was determined. This had to work. She pounded harder on the metal door in case for some reason Mr. Bartowski hadn't heard it the first time. It took a moment before the door opened with a squeak.

"Dad?"

* * *

Stephen blinked with surprise. "Charles?" He nervously scanned the distance behind the pair and ushered them inside quickly. "Come in, come in." With one final survey of the area, the door squealed shut. "Sit, sit. I'll grab drinks." He needed something to do to work off the adrenaline his body released. "I almost didn't recognize you with that shiner on your eye."

"Oh, yeah," Chuck said. Sometimes he forgot it was there and then he'd look in the mirror and jump. "It was just a misunderstanding." He puttered after Sarah over to the tiny loveseat. His knees almost hit his chest in the cramped space. Sweat from his hands left a slick glean when he grabbed the picture frame off the coffee table. He didn't expect to see something like this out on display. One side was Ellie and the other side was him. It was from just before their mom left. Dear ol' Dad definitely needed an update. "Oh, I'm kinda freakin' out, Sarah," he whispered.

"Deep breaths," Sarah said while linking her fingers with his. If his words hadn't said it, she would have known it from his moist hand. She took the picture from him to look at herself. She didn't know Chuck and Ellie had played t-ball. One more bud of information to tuck away. She put the frame back on the table with a smile.

Stephen brought in three glasses of water. Chuck grabbed the front on and gave it to Sarah, taking the second one for himself. "So, who is this you've brought with you, Son?"

Chuck took a big swig from the glass and put it down on the table. "This is Sarah. She's my girlfriend. Sarah, this is my dad, Stephen."

"Hi."

"Hello." Stephen smiled and gave an internal whistle. _Chuck sure got himself a looker. _He leaned against corner table and watched Chuck and Sarah. The two shared a brief smile as though they were having a private conversation only they were privy to and then he saw Sarah squeeze Chuck's hand. It made him happy to know that things worked out for Chuck. Not everything was broken. "It's good to see you."

Chuck looked away from Sarah and gave a small nod. Personally, he was having mixed feelings at the moment but he didn't want to be rude. "How've you been, Dad?"

"Let's not talk about me. What have you been up to?"

"Not much. Graduated from High School, went to college-"

"Stanford," Sarah supplied with pride. If he was going to short-change himself then she would have to make up for it.

Chuck gave a small laugh and rubbed her hand with his thumb, "Yeah, Stanford."

"Stanford? Well, you always were smarter than me."

Sarah flashed Chuck a bright smile and Chuck blushed.

"And Ellie? How is she doing?"

"Ellie's great. Um, she's a doctor now and . . . well, she's actually the reason we've come, Dad."

"Oh." That surprised him. He thought for sure it would be because of the Intersect.

"Yeah, um-" Chuck swallowed nervously and glanced at Sarah. She squeezed his hand supportively and he flashed a smile. It helped considerably that she was with him. More than she'd ever know. "Ellie's getting married and she- I, uh, _we_ wanted to find you. It's important to her that you walk her down the aisle."

Stephen rubbed his hand on his jeans uneasily. It wouldn't be safe for him to leave. But his only daughter is getting married. Every father dreamt of walking their little girl down the aisle. He'd spent so many sleepless nights wondering about them since he cut off all ties and now here his son is to take him back. Even after everything they still want him in their lives. He itched to say yes but with all that aside, it still isn't safe out there. "Charles, I can't-"

"No, Dad," Chuck interrupted as he stood, dropping Sarah's hand, "No. You're not allowed to say that. You've ruined enough already and I won't let you ruin this too. Ellie is everything to me and for reasons I will never understand, she wants you to give her away. So she will have that. I'll knock you out if I have to, but one way or the other, you are leaving with us."

Chuck and Stephen stared into each other's eyes until the whistle of the wind was the only thing to be heard. The one time Sarah came close to hearing Chuck this angry was during their argument. It certainly wasn't something she ever wanted directed at her again.

Stephen broke eye contact first, ashamed at what he'd done. He deserved to be yelled at but he'd do it again. He was aware of Charles' predicament. Knowing that the CIA database was the only way he could have been found confirmed Chuck's situation. He needed to help him get rid of that thing before it was too late. After all, that was the reason for making it possible for him to be found in the first place. "You pick fights now?"

"If I have to," Chuck said. "When it's worth it."

Stephen nodded. "I like that. I like you fighting for your sister." He sighed and twisted to put his cup on the table. "Let me get some stuff together," he said pushing to his feet.

After a moment, Chuck dropped to his seat completely stupefied and turned to Sarah. "He did say he was coming right? I didn't imagine that."

Sarah laughed and said, "And you didn't even have to knock him out."

Chuck chortled feeling the weight being removed from his shoulders. "I might've had to ask you to do that for me." His dad was coming. Ellie would get her wish. They did it. It seemed unbelievable.

Sarah neither affirmed nor denied the statement, just brought her hand up to caress the back of his neck, smiling all the while.

* * *

A/N2: thanks again for reading and if you so choose, please review =) have a great day everybody


	25. Chapter 25

A/N: Hello guys! Thanks so much to everyone who reviewed. They're always greatly appreciated =) I had this finished earlier last week but I didn't want to send it to Bill over the holiday weekend and between that and a misunderstanding between us, I'm late to putting it up so sorry for that. Completely my bad. Thanks Bill for betaing this chapter. You're a gem.

Disclaimer: I don't own Chuck.

* * *

Chapter 25

Sarah pulled into the complex at eight thirty. They'd made excellent time, even better than on the way out. Stephen was as crazy as Chuck remembered him to be but Chuck was so happy to have his dad back that it really didn't matter. He just hoped Ellie would see it that way too.

"So I'm just gonna go let Ellie know you're here," Chuck said as he stepped out of the passenger side door. On the way home he'd texted Ellie to let her know they'd be late but he didn't say why. He folded the seat forward so his dad could get out.

"Okay." Stephen stepped out of the cramped back seat and stretched out his back, twisting his torso from side to side and grunting. "We'll meet you inside."

Chuck's lip quirked in reply and he jogged around the car, stopping to give Sarah a peck on the cheek as he made his way to the apartment. She smiled in spite of herself before looking to the estranged elder Bartowski. Could he be considered 'estranged' even if he and Chuck had talked non-stop all the way back to Burbank? Sarah could hardly get a word in edgewise, not that she was trying particularly hard or anything. She'd been perfectly content to listen to the men nerd-out and reminisce. Seeing this side of Chuck- seeing him happy- made her forget, if only temporarily, about Evie. And it was all because of his father- who now had a crick in his back. With a twinge of remorse, she said, "I'm sorry about your back, Mr. Bartowski. Sports cars don't lend much in the way of leg room for the back seat."

"If there's a back seat you mean," he said shaking out his legs. "And please, call me Stephen. You'll make me feel old." He gave her the grin that must have passed from father to son and Sarah chuckled once. He leaned into the car to grab his bag. "We didn't really let you in the conversation much."

"Oh, that's okay. I'm not much of a talker anyway. Chuck does enough of that for the both of us."

Stephen laughed. He figured as much. From the very beginning, he was suspicious of their relationship. Not that he doubted Chuck's ability to get a woman such as Sarah. Chuck possessed a charisma he was unaware of. It had a way of sneaking up on you if you weren't prepared- and most weren't. Since Stephen had spent much of his adult life on the run it was difficult to stave off paranoia at the best of times without that added element. He flustered to straighten the strap over his shoulder and asked, "So what is it you do, Sarah?"

"Uh, I work at yogurt shop called the Orange Orange. It's across the parking lot from where Chuck works." Sarah saw his eyes about to flutter as if he was going to have a flash and narrowed her eyes curiously but he kept a pleasant smile on his face, replying quickly.

"So you like frozen treats then?" Paranoia or not, he'd held a small hope that she was a normal girl that Chuck was seeing while involved with the CIA but her answer confirmed that his suspicions were accurate. Sarah wasn't allegedly a spy. She was definitely a spy. Though, that didn't mean the relationship is false. _Tuh, who the hell are you kidding?_

Sarah led the way through the courtyard, keeping up the small talk on the short trek. "You know, surprisingly enough, not in the least actually. It was a Weinerlicious before but the location shut down and since these new guys were hiring and I still wanted to be by Chuck, I took the job." She smiled absently in thought. "You're son is an amazing man."

Well, there is attraction there at least. "I had nothing to do with that."

"Sarah," Casey's voice rumbled from his doorway, cutting off any reply she might have given. "A word?"

"Yeah, one second." She looked up to Stephen and pointed to Ellie's door. "That's Ellie's place. Would you let Chuck know I'll be along in a minute?"

He smiled, "Of course," and disappeared through the door. He had to pause and do a double take in the entrance. Ellie was in the kitchen mixing something in a bowl. She looked just like her mother and the thought made his heart constrict. "Eleanor."

Chuck hadn't quite gotten around to saying that he found their dad. Ellie dropped the bowl with a gasp. "Dad?" She stepped through the archway, completely dumbfounded, and walked up to him, being sure to keep a safe distance between them while deciding what to do.

Stephen remained still while Ellie assessed him. She'd look at him, then away, then back again. He wanted to reach out and hug her but clearly she didn't want that. _What is she thinking? _He shifted nervously under her scrutiny. The movement seemed to cause her to make a decision. She straightened and swallowed, sucking in a resolute breath and reeled her hand back, slapping him across the face. It wasn't extremely forceful but it still stung. "I guess I deserved that."

"Where have you been?" she asked, her whole body shaking. Without waiting for an answer, she left. Though she wanted an answer, she needed to leave before she did or said anything worse. _I can't believe I just hit my father._

Chuck's jaw dropped at her reaction. By the time he recovered, she'd already gone down the hall. "Ellie, wait," Chuck said going after her. "Ellie-"

Ellie sat on her bed, pillow wrapped firmly in white knuckles. "How did you find him? _Where_ did you find him?"

"It's-" Chuck floundered for an explanation. It wasn't like her could say from a CIA database. He shut his eyes and sighed, finishing with the default excuse as of late, "complicated."

Ellie growled. "I hate those words." Furthering her frustration was that she knew if she pressed for more he wouldn't give it. Her brother had changed in the past few years. She didn't like all of it. Some of it was okay but more than anything she just wished he would talk to her. They used to be so good at talking. What happened to that? Where did their camaraderie go? Ellie scoffed and shook her head, "It doesn't matter, I guess. We wanted him found and now he is. I just didn't expect feeling this . . . overwhelming hatred toward him." She flopped backwards to lie on the bed. "I still love him, but I'm _so_ angry- aren't you angry, Chuck?"

Chuck laid down next to Ellie, copying her like he use to as a child. "Yeah, but he's our dad. You know how he is- always getting caught up in work-"

"Oh, please," she said flatly. "For ten years?"

"Alright, fair point. The thing is, though, we always knew our dad was a few quarters short of a dollar. I mean he's probably the most neurotic person I know." Chuck shook his head thoughtfully and shrugged. "I don't know; maybe there were extenuating circumstances that we don't know about." That's what Chuck wanted to be true and when considering all he's seen in the past two years, it was easier to believe that than no reason at all.

"Like what? He was abducted by aliens?" She snapped her fingers. "Oh, I know, he was stuck in a video game. Or, better yet, it was rogue spies," Ellie said flippantly. "Honestly what is a valid reason for dropping off the face of the Earth, especially after what Mom did?"

Chuck's heart raced with her last idea. It'd sound a lot less like farce to Ellie if she knew the truth. _Right. Because you're dad is _to-tally_ a spy,_ he thought rolling his eyes to himself. He cleared his throat with a chuckle and said as smoothly as possible, "Really now, Ellie, that's just preposterous. Obviously he was an Astronaut."

She laughed. "With how much Dad loves planes, I seriously doubt that."

"Anyway," Chuck said, shifting his tone to be more serious, "we'll never know if we don't give him a chance, El."

She heaved a sigh. He was right. She knew he was right. But it didn't make it any easier to stomach. It was kind of her idea to have Chuck look for him in the first place and now they have him the least she could do is listen. "How did you take it?"

Chuck gave her a good-natured smile. "Well, I was lucky. Sarah held my hand. Though, after your reaction, maybe it was more of a favor to Dad."

Ellie hummed a laugh. "Oh, I don't know, Chuck. You're not much of a fighter. Remember when Gavin pushed you over and called you a nerd-"

"And you got grounded for punching him in the face." Chuck nodded reminiscently. "I remember."

"Yeah." Ellie reached out and ruffled his curls. "Nobody messes with my littler brother and gets away with it."

Chuck smiled admirably at Ellie. She always took care of him- no matter what. Despite the evidence against him, she always believed in him, never doubting him for a second. Unfortunately, that just made it easier for her to believe any story he told her nowadays. How he wished he could tell her the truth about everything. Ellie always looked out for him. If anyone could keep it a secret it would be her but he couldn't give her that burden. He wouldn't stand for any danger to befall her because of him. "You're an amazing lady, Ellie. I don't know where I'd be if it weren't for you."

"You'd have figured it out," Ellie said with a smirk. "I have every confidence in you."

Chuck nodded. "I know."

For just a second, it felt like old times. She longed to get back to those days- him rushing home to share the latest anecdote from school, telling her everything about the girl he liked or the video game he wanted. Back to when it was just the two of them struggling to keep their heads above water but doing it together and winning. Them against the world- no secrets. Sadly those days were gone. She had Devon and he had Sarah. Their entwined lives have come to fork. She gave him a fond half smile as the door to that time shut, "You know I'd do anything for you, right? Me getting married isn't going to change that."

"I know," Chuck smiled. "And you know I'd do anything for you, right?"

"As long as it's not cooking," Ellie joked. "I love you, Bro, but that'd just be too much."

Chuck eyebrows rose teasingly, "Oh, Devon wearing off on you, huh?" Ellie blushed and pushed his shoulder. It was awkward from her position but still made him laugh. "No really. It's cute. Before too long you'll be calling him Awesome and having little Awesome babies- you know you could name your first born Awesome."

"Oh, really? And what if it was a girl?"

"Awesomette?"

"Not even if you paid me a million dollars. Besides, there'd be a lot of expectations for someone with that name."

"Oh come on. With you and Devon as parents? There's no way that kid is anything less than spectacular."

Ellie's blush deepened. "Thanks, Chuck."

"Love you, Sis." They shared a smile before Chuck asked, "Are you gonna be okay?"

"Yeah, I will be."

"Good." He tapped her leg and rolled up. "I'm gonna go see what I can salvage of that salad."

"Elch, gross," Ellie groaned following suit. "Please don't. There are plenty of other things to eat."

Chuck led the way down the hall. "Oh, fine. But leave the mess to me." Chuck and Ellie got to the living room and found only Devon and their dad sitting there. His brow furrowed, "Where's Sarah?" He hadn't thought to look if she came in with his dad before running after Ellie.

"Your neighbor- the burly guy- asked to have a word with her," Stephen said, looking back at his children. Boy it was good to see them again. Leaving is going to be that much harder this time around.

"And I already cleaned up the mess, Bro. No worries," Devon said. He motioned between Stephen and himself, "We also set the table so all we need is Sarah and Diane."

"Actually, Diane is staying over at John's for dinner. She told me Eve decided to end the treatment so they're having the last of their family time together."

"Who's Diane?" Stephen asked.

"Diane is John's . . . well I'm not really sure what she is to John. Eve, her granddaughter, is receiving treatment for leukemia and Diane is staying with us. Lovely woman. I think you'd really like her," Ellie explained. As the awkwardness settled in, her eyes shifted to the kitchen. There was always something to do in there. She began to retreat there but doubled back before she lost the nerve to apologize. "I'm sorry about slapping you, Dad."

Stephen smiled and shook his head, "Distant memory."

"Okay," Ellie smiled gratefully. "Dinner will be ready shortly."

"Thanks, Ellie," Chuck said to her retreating figure. He turned and addressed the two other men, "I'll just go check on Sarah."

* * *

Casey stepped closer to Sarah and watched the man hobble toward the door. "Who's that?"

"Chuck's dad," Sarah replied and Casey grunted curiously. She waited until the door shut to address him. "So what's going on?"

"You're offer for Eve still stand?"

"Of course it does," she said somewhat miffed he even had to ask but she didn't dwell on that for long as understanding broke through. "She's gonna do it?"

Casey nodded. "With a few considerations."

She smiled with relief. "That's great-"

"Walker," Casey said putting a hand out before she could get her hopes up too high, "I don't know what happened between you guys but Eve made it clear she doesn't want to have any interaction with you besides the transplant."

"Oh." Sarah shifted nervously and looked away, a wave of disappointment extinguishing the small (large) part of her holding out any hope for a reconciliation. She always told herself she would be satisfied just knowing her sister was okay, that that would be enough, but it didn't make the realization that that was all she would get hurt any less. Sarah cleared her throat and folded her arms. "So then what's the plan? Where do we go from here?"

"Trisha talked to Dr. Williams. Eve is going back to the hospital tomorrow to restart the treatment. He'd like it if you would go tomorrow afternoon to start testing."

Her head nodded jerkily, "I'll call him after dinner. Finalize a time."

Casey nodded. "Beckman'll go back to Washington until the surgery."

"And us?" Sarah gave him a look of apprehension, worried as to where they stood as a team. She wanted to be his partner still but did he? "Beckman said she won't reassign me but are we- do you still want to work with me?"

The thought hadn't even crossed his mind. "Whatever happened between you and Eve is between you two. Doesn't change anything with the team."

"So you have no issues with what I did to Evie?"

"Far as I'm concerned you're helping her when nothing else can."

"Yeah, _after_ I already abandoned her."

He couldn't understand why these two thought it was an issue of abandonment. Walker was nine. If it was anyone's fault it was that jackass she calls a father. In any event, the conversation wasn't for him to have with either of them. They needed to sort it out between themselves. "I've worked with you for two years. If you were going to betray me, you would've already done it. And if you intended to leave, you would've done it with Larkin last year- even in a few days when the new Intersect is online. You're not considering leaving, are you?"

"No, Chuck and I together now," she answered quickly and then averted her eyes. "I would have left if you didn't want me here or if what Graham had said was true but I- I don't want to leave."

"Then nothing changes. But if you and Bartowski don't keep it in your pants, I will shoot you."

Sarah chuckled and rolled her eyes. "Thanks, Casey."

"No. Thank you." They shared a somber smile and then Casey turned to go back inside. "Have a good night, Walker."

"Casey." She waited until he turned back to her before continuing. "Not to put you in the middle but . . . would you at least let Evie- I mean, Eve- know that I'm sorry?" Casey nodded once before going inside and Sarah let out a weary breath. She looked up at the night sky, taking a moment to collect herself before dinner.

* * *

Chuck opened the door and found Sarah alone, staring up at the sky. He watched her for a minute before allowing the door to shut somewhat noisily to alert her to his presence. He was pretty sure she already knew but it'd be best not to tempt fate when she is deadly accurate with a knife. He walked up next to her and gazed up standing quietly next to her. Without breaking her focus, Sarah dropped her head against his shoulder. He jumped slightly under her touch but relaxed into it and put his arm around her. It was only when a star fell that she broke the silence.

"Evie decided to do the transplant," she said, a hint of sadness lacing her tone.

"That's great. Isn't that what you wanted?"

"Yeah, but she also doesn't want anything to do with me. I expected it but I didn't think it would hurt this much." She sighed sadly as Chuck squeezed her supportively. She bit down on her bottom lip to keep from crying. She looked at him and gave him a tight smile. "I mean, I know Graham told me I couldn't have anything to do with her if I found and I thought I'd prepared myself for that but it's harder than I thought it would be."

He gave her a sympathetic smile. "There's no way to prepare for something like this, Sarah," he said. "Give it some time. I'm sure she'll come around." _And if I have anything to say about it, she will._

"I really, really want you to be right."

He kept quiet and stepped behind her to wrap his arms more securely around her. Sarah melted into his embrace and dropped a kiss on his arm before leaning back to look up. Astronomy wasn't really one of the things Chuck nerded out on but he could pick out a few of the major constellations. He could clearly see the ones his father pointed out to him on one of their camping excursions when he was younger. The one he showed Chuck the most was Orion but that one isn't vis-

Sarah felt his arms clamp down tightly against her. "Chuck?" She swiveled her head as much as she could, wondering what had gotten into him. His eyes were rolling every which way and she knew immediately he'd flashed. She waited him out but it was like a constant stream of information ran through his mind. She'd never seen him flash this long. "Chuck?" With her concern rising, she struggled to break free when suddenly he buckled forward. Sarah caught all of his weight and lowered him to the ground. She could see his eyes twitching. "Chuck?" He didn't respond. After a slight hesitation, she ran over to Casey's and pounded on the door.

"Walker-"

She cut him off, "Its Chuck."

Casey looked over and saw the signature Chucks sticking out from behind the fountain. "Go open your door." He rushed forward and knelt next to Chuck's unconscious body doing a quick check of vital signs. Determining their strength, he stood back. With minimal effort, he picked up his asset in a classic fireman hold and rushed to Sarah's apartment. He put Chuck down on the couch. "Do you have a pen light?"

Without a word, Sarah ran to Chuck's room and grabbed his pen light out of the pocket-protector on his nerdherder shirt and ran back. Her normally steady hand shook as Casey snatched it from her.

"What happened?" he asked, shining the light into Chuck's eye.

"I don't know. One minute we were talking about Evie and then all of a sudden he did this death-grip on me. When I looked back I could tell that he was flashing but I've never seen it like this. It lasted a lot longer than usual and then afterwards he went completely limp. I put him on the ground and then got you."

Chuck's eyes dilated as they should, his vital signs were steady and strong. Casey put the pen light down and started to tap Chuck's cheek. "Bartowski?"

"Casey, stop it," she protested angrily, moving to push him away.

He ignored her and continued slapping, "Bartowski, get up." Chuck groaned and rolled his head away from the disturbance. "Come on, Moron. I haven't got all day."

Chuck hissed and opened his eyes. "Ow! Knock it off, Casey." He brought his hands up to block the light and ended up bumping his bruise, letting out another hiss of pain.

"Huh, better than not pretty," he grumbled to himself. When Chuck tried to sit up, Casey pushed him back. "Whoa, take it easy, Bartowski. Just lie still." He stepped back to let Sarah deal with him while he turned off the living room light. He could tell that Chuck was a bit sensitive to it. Once that was done, he went to get Chuck a glass of water.

"Chuck?" Sarah grabbed his hand and smoothed his hair calmingly, also needing the reassurance herself.

"What happened?" he winced.

"I was gonna ask you the same thing."

He squinted around now that the lights were out. "How'd I get in here?"

"Casey," she said dismissively. "How's your head?"

"Oh, you know, _there_."

_Well, at least he still has his humor. _Sarah smiled while checking him over for herself. Satisfied that he would be fine, she said, "Okay. Let's try having you sit." To keep him from getting lightheaded, she wrapped her fingers firmly at the base of his neck and helped him slowly roll to a sitting position. He hunched forward and began to rub his temples. Sarah sat next to him on the couch, rubbing his back with one hand and resting the other on his arm.

Chuck looked up when he heard Casey's footsteps. He handed Chuck the glass of water before sitting across from them on the coffee table. "Thanks," Chuck said, holding it under his nose.

"What did you flash on, Bartowski?"

Chuck looked between his protectors. "Half the Intersect, I think. Probably not that much, but it might as well have been." He took a sip of the drink and put it down.

"That's odd," Sarah said. "What triggered it?"

Chuck rubbed his temples again and shook his head clenching his eyes shut. "I'm not sure. I was looking for the constellations my dad used to tell me about when I was a kid." He thought back trying to recall the specific one he was looking for when he flashed. "I was looking for . . . Orion? Yeah, that was it. Orion. Except Orion isn't visible this time of-" he trailed off at their unamused expression, "right. Anyway, that's the one I was thinking about and then it's like my brain was attacked. I saw all of the original draw ups for the computer. I think I forced the flash."

"Can you do that?"

"I don't know. I've never really tried before. But it was really deep for in there, like it was buried under lots of stuff or like a memory from a long time ago. I don't know."

Sarah narrowed her eyes. "It was Orion that made you flash? So, did it tell you who Orion is?"

The pounding had finally started to wind down, which helped Chuck relax. "No, just a lot of the schematics, kind of like I was in the hardware of the Intersect and not the software, if that makes sense."

"Okay. There's nothing to be reported then." Sarah looked at Casey. "What do you think we should do as far as Chuck is concerned?"

Casey shrugged. "Maybe for tonight, treat it like a concussion. We can talk to Beckman about doing a neurology consult-"

"Ugh, no thanks," Chuck groaned. "The last government doctor I saw wanted to kidnap me. I'd rather not go down that road." He picked up his glass and finished off the water.

"Well, we have to do something," Sarah insisted. "You've never passed out from a flash before."

"I passed out when I first uploaded the Intersect and when Bryce updated it and the Fulcrum one."

"Okay, yes, but you've never passed out while retrieving information before. This could be serious, Chuck," Sarah said.

"I'm sure I'll be fine."

"I'll go get Beckman," Casey said walking to the door. He didn't want to be there for what would amount to a relationship conversation.

"Please don't make me go, Sarah. I don't want to see a doctor. I'm fine. It'll go away."

"You are going to see a doctor," Sarah said, finality in her voice. "It's my job to protect you but more than that I want know for certain you'll be okay. I need you to be okay. I just- I'm looking out for you, Chuck."

Chuck sighed and his shoulders sagged in defeat. "Fine, but only if you're like right next to me the whole time."

"Thank you." Sarah pressed her lips in a tight grin, running her fingers through his curls a few more times. "I'm going to get you some aspirin." She took the glass from Chuck to refill. "I'll be right back." She kissed his temple before going to get the medicine.

Casey opened the door and let Beckman precede him into the apartment. She walked briskly to the couch, gently sitting next to the asset. "Chuck, are you alright?"

"Yeah, it's just a headache now."

She turned on the lamp next to the couch and he flinched away but it didn't hurt as much as it did when he opened his eyes. Beckman fixed him with a calculating stare. Chuck's smiled uncomfortably and his brow rose. It was like she was waiting for him to crack. When he did nothing more, she said, "Alright. We'll have you do a basic routine check. If your headache persists, let us know right away. Understand?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Colonel Casey said you forced the flash?"

"Yeah, I think I did."

Beckman nodded. "Hmm, perhaps when you're feeling better you can try again. Force flashing could have its advantages. But until we know for sure there aren't any repercussions, don't do it."

Sarah came back in and handed Chuck the pills and water. "Thanks," he said, taking the medicine. He put the glass down on the table before addressing the General. "Can't we wait until Ellie leaves for her honeymoon? It's only a few days away and I have to get Devon's parents from the airport tomorrow and then the wedding party is the next day- it'd just be easier to wait." _Plus I'd like to stall any way I can. Beckman will only take it if it's logical and I know she has a soft spot for Ellie._ "It's truly not that bad anymore, I promise."

Beckman sucked in a breath, "Actually, that might not be so bad."

Chuck's face dropped with shock, "Really?"

"Yes, I think that as long as you're feeling alright, we should wait until she gets back."

"Un- until she gets back?" Chuck stammered nervously. "Why- why would we do that?"

"You're sister applied for a neurology fellowship at USC."

"Yeah, I know. It's been her dream for like ever."

"Well, she's the perfect person to study the Intersect," Beckman said. "I've been thinking about this for quite some time. We need to gain a better understanding of how the Intersect works so we can maximize our results in the fight against Fulcrum. What better way than a doctor who-"

"Oh, no," Chuck shook his head and stood up to pace, "No, no, no. Absolutely not. I will not drag Ellie into this. It's not safe."

"She'll be perfectly safe. Colonel Casey and Agent Walker will look after her just as they do you. She won't go on missions; we'll give her an alias. No one will know-"

"General, I want out and I will- someday. But if Ellie starts this, she will be expected to work on agents forever which means she will always be in danger."

"It's not up for discussion, Bartowski," she said heatedly. "I'm offering it to her with or without your approval. Whether you like it or not, your sister is a prominent mind in the medical industry. With how things stand, she may very well be the only doctor we can entrust this assignment to."

"You opportunistic-" Chuck clenched his fists together, "She wouldn't even be on your radar if it wasn't for me!"

"You don't know that."

"The hell I don't!"

"Bartowski!" Casey shouted. He stepped into Chuck's personal space and lowered his voice, "You watch who you're raising your voice to. Your sister can still say no. If you'd get your head out of your ass, you'd see she's the most logical choice. There'd be no way she could betray you."

"That's the point, Casey. If they find out she is the doctor for the Intersect there will be no stopping them from coming after her. Forgive me if I doubt the Government's willingness to save a doctor when there's another one just around the corner."

"Then have faith in us, Chuck," Sarah said. "We'd never let anything happen to Ellie."

"And you have my word that in the very unlikely circumstance Eleanor is found out, the full resources of this team will be put into keeping her safe."

Chuck sighed. "There's nothing I can say that will change your mind, is there?"

"I'm afraid not," Beckman said. "Have you seen her credentials? The application she submitted to the fellowship put her on the radar and that's without the knowledge as to the identity of the Intersect. You're a family of over-achievers-"

Chuck scoffed.

"Don't act so surprised. It's the truth. Aside from the fact that I'm very fond of your sister, she would be an asset to this team just as you are an asset without the Intersect."

"You-" Chuck paused, taken aback. "You really think I'd be an asset without the Intersect?"

"Chuck, look at what you've accomplished with no training. The CIA was going to recruit you if Agent Larkin hadn't put a stop to it. Now, Bryce may have been right about field work as your methods are . . . let's just say unconventional, but you'd be a wonder as an analyst or tech support. Your analytical abilities far exceed the minimum requirement."

"Wow," Chuck said, stunned, "I ask you to look into other options aside from bunker or death and you really do your homework."

"Yes, well, despite what you may think, I listen to my personnel. And after reviewing all the mission debriefs for the past two years I'm certain you'd make an excellent analyst. If Agent Walker says no-"

Sarah cleared her throat. "Actually, ma'am, I already said yes. We just haven't told you yet."

"Oh. Good. I apologize for thinking I may have needed a backup plan. You didn't answer as immediately as I anticipated you would." Beckman turned back to Chuck, "Anyway, I was going to talk to you tomorrow but consider this a formal request. Think it over and let me know what you decide." She walked to the door signifying the end to the conversation. "Feel better, Chuck."

Chuck pursed his lips together and raised his brow. "Wow, I was not expecting that."

"What were you expecting?" Casey asked defensively. "Beckman doesn't blow people off."

Chuck put his hands out in an effort to calm Casey. "Okay, Casey, I'm sorry."

"Listen carefully." Casey got right up into Chuck's face. "Beckman is an honorable woman and a damn good leader. You should feel privileged to have her in charge of your case. Because no one will back you like she does. If anyone else was in charge you'd have been in a bunker so fast it'd make your head spin. No one would put up with your sorry ass antics for as long as she has. What she says and what she does might seem unfair but she will always back you. You got me?"

Chuck involuntarily leaned back with each word. Apparently he'd struck a nerve with Casey that he didn't mean to hit. "Yes, Casey."

"Good." Casey took a step back before Walker tried to step in. He'd gotten his message across. "Make sure you don't forget it. You won't like it if I have to remind you."

Sarah licked her lips as Casey left and shared a bewildered look with Chuck. It wasn't like Casey to get bent out of shape like that. "We better get back over to your sister's before she sends out a search party."

"Right." Chuck followed Sarah out. Before crossing the courtyard, he stopped her with a hand on his arm. "Hey, Sarah, for the record I do have faith in you and Casey. You know that, right?"

Sarah brought a hand up to caress Chuck's cheek and smiled, "Yes, Chuck, I know."

Ellie opened the door as Sarah pressed her lips to Chuck's. "There you are. We were starting to get worried." Chuck pulled away bashfully and looked at his sister.

"You couldn't have waited two more minutes?"

Sarah slapped his arm playfully. "Sorry Ellie. We were talking to John."

"Did he say how Eve was doing?"

"They found a match so she's decided to do the transplant."

Ellie said excitedly, "Oh my god, that's fantastic! Do they know who it is or are they not saying?"

"Yes, they do," Sarah said. "But I'll explain everything later. For now, let's eat. I'm starved."

Ellie laughed and led the way to the table. Chuck looked at Sarah curiously. _'Are you going to tell her?'_

'_Not everything but yes.'_ Sarah stepped forward to follow Ellie. Chuck smiled and rubbed her shoulders as they walked over to join Devon and Stephen at the table. The seated pair smiled as everyone sat down. Dishes were passed and laughter was shared. All in all it was a successful night. Ellie had absolved everything with their father. There was no lingering tension from earlier. Perhaps it'd been a good thing Chuck and Sarah stayed away as long as they had. Chuck felt relieved. It was like they'd be a family again.

* * *

A/N2: I'm not really sure how I feel about that chapter but I hope you guys liked it =) Until next time . . .

P.S. If you saw this and then didn't, it's because I forgot to add the breaks. Whoops


	26. Chapter 26

A/N: Hi guys! Thanks so much to everyone for reading and reviewing last chapter. I personally like this one a lot more than that one and hopefully you will too.

Disclaimer: Dang it, I still don't own Chuck

..-. .- - .. .-.. -.- - .- - - . .-. … … - - .-.

Chapter 26

Chuck woke up at seven o'clock the next morning, a good half hour before his alarm was scheduled to go off. _Thank goodness for small favors._ Sarah wasn't a morning person and the alarm would have undoubtedly woken her up. Cranky Sarah wouldn't be a fun Sarah but, currently, she was adorable Sarah- draped across him, breathing deeply with her lip upturned in the barest of smiles. It was a rare occurrence to see her so unguarded but he knew that the slightest of movements could undo all of that. As carefully as possible, he reached out his hand to the nightstand for his phone. He wanted to shutoff the alarm so it wouldn't disturb the sleeping beauty next to him. Taking no extra risks, he put the phone down by his side and brought his arm up behind his head, looking to the ceiling in thought.

He couldn't believe he'd gotten so lucky. The most gorgeous woman on the face of the planet wanted him. His sister had been the happiest he's seen her since before their Mom left and, all slaps aside, things with their father had gone well last night. Of course, there were a few things he could do without- like the government secrets locked in his head, living in a constant state of fear, danger, and anxiety- though those feelings had dwindled quite significantly in the two years he's had the dang thing. Plus, it's led him to said beautiful woman so he could never be completely resentful. Mainly, it's the lying that was getting to him.

"Don't start anything you're not willing to finish, Mr. Bartowski," Sarah mumbled sleepily adjusting herself to a more comfortable position.

"Hmm?" he questioned and then realized his hand was skimming across Sarah's lower back slowly and pushing her shirt up. With a blush, he laughed nervously and pulled down her camisole. "Sorry. I was thinking."

Sarah rolled her head up to look at him and propped her chin on her hand. "Ooo. I'll bet I can guess what you were thinking about," she said with a mischievous smile, waggling her eyebrows. She stretched up to capture his lips with hers, keeping it quick because of morning breath. "Good morning," she whispered.

Chuck groaned and pulled her the rest of the way on top of him making her giggle. He gave her a passionate kiss before starting his way down her neck. Her body started to tingle in all the right places and he'd barely done anything. _Oh, god. He's forgot our agreement,_ she whined internally though she let out breathless moan. She wanted nothing more than to continue but he wanted their first time to be special. And besides that, they didn't have the right amount of time she deemed as necessary to work out _all_ of her frustrations. Against her better judgment, she pushed herself to a seated position, leaving both hands on his chest as she looked down at him. "Seriously, Chuck. Don't start anything you're not willing to finish. You have to meet Devon in a little bit to go pick up his family."

"Okay, okay. I'm sorry," Chuck said running his hands up and down her sides. "I just can't help myself. You're simply irresistible."

Sarah smiled sheepishly and averted her eyes, her already flushed skin deepening with color. Reconnecting her eyes with his, she couldn't help but think how adorable he is. She bent down and rubbed her nose against his in an Eskimo kiss.

In their closeness, Chuck whispered, "Good morning." His eyes closed as he tilted his head just enough to touch his lips against hers being sure to keep the passion to a minimum.

Sarah pulled away, taking a deep and shaky breath to calm her rapidly beating heart. It didn't seem to matter if it was a simple kiss or a full on make-out session, her body reacted the same every time. "You're a horrible tease, Chuck Bartowski," she said, rolling off him.

Chuck laughed and scooted on his side, propping his head upon his hand so he could look at her. He grabbed one of her hands and laced his fingers through hers. "So what's on your agenda while I'm gone?"

She shrugged and played with the hair on his arm. "I figured I'd tell Ellie about Evie today while it's just the two of us. Plus she might like some help with breakfast. You guys should be back by nine-thirty or ten, right?"

He nodded. "Yep. That's the plan. Unless their flight is delayed, of course."

"Okay. I'll probably be gone by then."

"Right, your appointment. Are you sure you don't want some company?"

"I'll be fine, Chuck." Sarah brushed her thumb under his eye and promptly changed the subject. "You're cut's looking a lot better."

He knew she was avoiding the topic but it was best to let it go. "Yeah, thank goodness. Any chance you think it might be gone before the wedding?"

"The cut? Possibly. Your bruise, definitely not."

"Ahhh shucks. A guy can hope."

"That's true," she laughed. After a slight pause, Sarah smiled shyly as she admitted, "I like this."

Chuck grinned back happily and squeezed her hand. "Me too."

She let out a sigh of relief when he didn't tease her. It was hard for her to open up and when she had in the past, the other person would usually jest. She was so glad Chuck wasn't that way. Before allowing things to get too heavy, she suggested, "Why don't you go jump in the shower and I'll make some coffee?"

"You spoil sport," Chuck grumbled playfully. He pushed the covers off and rolled out of bed. "I was enjoying the lounging."

Sarah laughed. "You only have yourself to blame. You didn't have to agree to helping Awesome." She got up and slipped on her robe. It fell to about mid-thigh but it was better than nothing. She doubted Chuck's Dad would appreciate her walking around in a camisole and boy-shorts.

Chuck's only response was to grumble with fake annoyance. Sarah smiled to herself and set about making the bed. As she was throwing the last pillow on the bed she heard him mutter, "Damn it."

"What happened?" Sarah asked, heading for the bathroom.

"I dropped my toothbrush in the trash. I thought I just dropped it on the ground."

Sarah found Chuck looking forlornly in the garbage. She leaned against the doorframe and crossed her arms. "Use mine."

He looked up at her from his crouched position in shock. "Are you serious?"

She gave him a shrug as if it were no big deal. "I don't see why not. It's just a toothbrush."

"Oh. Okay. I wasn't sure we were quite there yet, but cool."

Sarah rolled her eyes. "Chuck, I've had your tongue down my throat. Somehow I doubt sharing a toothbrush is that big a deal."

Chuck mouth slanted distastefully at her choice of words. "I wouldn't say I've _shoved_ it down your throat," he said, putting the garbage can down before standing and reaching out for her toothbrush.

"Hey, I wasn't complaining," she said, stepping into the bathroom and wrapping her arms around his middle. "I like having your tongue down my throat." She went up on her tiptoes and gave him a peck on the cheek. "Besides, it's not like I haven't done the same to you."

He spread toothpaste across the bristle as he replied, "Yeah, but you're a gorgeous, sophisticated woman. No man in their right mind would object to that. I'm a bumbling nerd that's tall, dark, and caring."

Sarah's brow furrowed. "I happen to like tall, dark, and caring."

"You do?"

"Uh huh," she said with a nod. She spun him around to look at him and trapped him between the counter and her hips. Her hands slid up his chest to his neck so she could play with the hair at the base of it as she edged closer and closer to his mouth. "We should add smart and sexy and _irresistible_-"

Chuck cut her off with a whispered plea, "Don't start anything you're not willing to finish."

"Oh, I'm willing," she said before closing the gap completely. As if to prove her earlier point, she swept her tongue across his bottom lip and he didn't hesitate in granting her access. Sarah's legs practically turned to mush as their tongues dueled against each other. Chuck held on tight so she wouldn't fall being sure to keep his toothbrush out of the way. He was indubitably grateful to have the counter to hold him up. When the need for oxygen became apparent, he rested his forehead against hers, swallowing audibly.

"Evil, evil temptress."

"Me?" Sarah laughed and backed away. "You started it."

Chuck huffed in mock offense as he turned to face the sink. "Uh, did not."

"Did too."

"Did not."

"Oh brush your teeth," she nagged humorously before smacking his butt and walking out.

"Hey!" Sarah half turned back with a toothy grin and waived, strolling to the door. He waited until she got there and shouted, "Did not!"

"Did too!" she shouted right back, laughing as she made her way down the hall. When she came into the kitchen, she found Stephen looking through the cupboards. "Good morning, Stephen," she said cheerfully. "The mugs are in the next cupboard over, if that's what you're looking for."

Stephen smiled. "That's precisely what I was looking for. I hope you don't mind I made coffee."

"Not at all," she said, opening the refrigerator to get out the milk, still smiling. "Please, make yourself at home." The notion of home still made butterflies flutter delightfully around in her stomach.

Stephen pulled down three mugs, one at a time. "Well, someone's in a good mood this morning."

"Not usually," she said wanly as she put the milk on the counter. "Waking up early is my least favorite thing to do but Chuck has a way of making even the most dreadful of things appealing. Do you take sugar?"

"Yes, I do. Would you like your glass filled all the way?"

"Actually, none for me thanks," Sarah said as she grabbed the sugar for him before going back to get bread and butter out of the fridge. "Would you like some toast? I know Ellie is making breakfast for everyone but Chuck will want something to hold him over in case they get stuck in traffic."

"Toast would be nice," he said with a smile putting away one of the mugs but leaving the other for Chuck.

"Great," she said happily, dropping four slices in the toaster, then fixed up some coffee for Chuck in a travel mug and used the other mug for water.

"Do you not like coffee?" Stephen asked as he took a seat on a barstool so he'd be out of the way. This vantage point offered the best view to observe the mystery CIA agent his son had become enamored with. Sarah has been practically beaming since she came down the hall. Though her smile had dimmed some, it had never left her face. Something in her eyes would change anytime she said Chuck's name and a kind of reverence touched her voice. It made him very nervous for his son. Sarah Walker was the best the CIA had to offer. She could easily play his innocent child into doing anything she pleased.

Sarah grabbed a plate and napkin for when the toast was done, hesitating only slightly before answering the question, "No, I do. I just have a doctor's appointment today so only clear liquids for me."

"Oh. Is everything alright?"

"Mmhmm." Sarah smiled and left it at that. While his concern was touching, she didn't want to get into it. When the toast popped, she put two slices on the plate and two on the napkin, buttering the plate first to give to Stephen. "Here you go."

"Thanks."

Chuck came around the corner, his hair still wet from the quick shower. "Hey, Dad. How did you sleep?" Chuck asked as he went over to Sarah and pressed a kiss to her temple while she finished fixing up his toast.

When Chuck came in, Stephen saw Sarah's face light up again. Chuck had obviously fallen for this girl but Sarah was either an Oscar-worthy actress or she actually felt something for Chuck. He wasn't sure which one was worse. No matter which way the chips fell, Chuck would be devastated. "I slept just fine, thanks."

"Good, I'm glad," Chuck said. "What are your plans for the day?"

"I have some consulting work I need to finish up." The sooner he could get the Intersect gone for his son, the better.

"Okay. Just don't forget about breakfast."

"Wouldn't dream of it," Stephen said with a smile as the wooden door resonated with a knock. "I'll get it."

As his father walked away, Chuck turned back to Sarah and saw the mug and folded napkin. He stepped behind her and wrapped his arms around her while she brushed the crumbs into her hand. "Are those for me?"

Sarah craned her neck to look at him. "They are."

"Thank you." Chuck smiled gratefully and kissed her.

"Hey, Chuckster, you ready to- whoa. Sorry." Devon turned around and gave the couple some privacy. "I'll wait outside."

Stephen just raised an eyebrow at the blushing couple and walked down the hall to his room.

Sarah stepped over to the sink and shook the crumbs out of her hand. "See what you started?" she teased.

"I still maintain that I did not," Chuck said closing the distance between them.

"Did too," she laughed, pulling him down for quick good-bye kiss and handed him the napkin with the toast and a mug of coffee. "Be safe and I'll see you later."

"Okay." Somewhat reluctantly, Chuck let go and met Devon outside, giving one last waive to Sarah before closing the door. He turned around to see Devon staring at him strangely. "What?"

Devon, trying for surreptitious but coming off as more conspicuous than anything, looked around the courtyard to verify they were alone and leaned closer to Chuck as they walked toward the car. "Bro, aren't you laying it on a little heavy for your dad? I know you're actually in love with her so don't things like that make it worse?"

"What are you talking about?" Chuck asked, forgetting Devon didn't yet know the news.

Devon looked at him incredulously and said through clenched teeth, "Your cover?"

"Oh. _That,_" Chuck laughed and shook his head, "No, I was giving my _girlfriend_ a proper goodbye."

The added emphasis on 'girlfriend' made Devon's interest pique. "Are you saying . . .?" He raised his eyebrows and nodded as if forcing Chuck to read his mind.

Chuck rolled his eyes. "Yes, Devon, it's all real."

Devon gave the full on Captain Awesome grin. "Nice _work_, mi amigo." He slapped Chuck's shoulder and shook him forcefully. "That's outstanding!"

"Ow, Devon, a little less shaking, please . . ."

..-. .- - .. .-.. -.- - .- - - . .-. … … - - .-.

Sarah quickly got ready for the day, ensuring she would have enough time to explain to Ellie why she wouldn't be there for breakfast and get to the hospital. Last night, she ran through what she would say over and over until it was as good as she could make it. The idea was to keep it as simple as possible without divulging any huge bombshells while making Ellie feel like they've bonded- which they most likely will, a thought that almost caused Sarah to reconsider.

She picked up her purse out of her office and double checked that she had her wallet, keys, and phone inside. With everything in order, she grabbed the information Dr. Williams had given her on the donor process and headed out. Figuring she should probably let Stephen know she was leaving, she stopped to knock on the door. "Stephen?"

"Just a second." What sounded like keystrokes against a keyboard and a few footsteps later, Stephen held the door open by only a crack, being sure to keep most of his body in the way so she couldn't look inside. "Yes?"

"I was heading over to Ellie's and wanted to let you know," she explained, suddenly feeling unsure about telling him.

"Oh. Okay."

They stood staring at each other awkwardly for a moment when Sarah realized he was waiting for her to say something else. "Did . . . you want to come with me or-"

"No, no," he replied, giving her a pleasant smile. "I'm working."

"Right." Sarah forced herself to smile back. She was starting to get the feeling Stephen Bartowski didn't particularly like her. He was being nice but his tone was anything but warm. "I'll see you later then?"

"Okay." Stephen didn't wait for anything more, practically slamming the door in her face.

Sarah's brow furrowed at his abruptness. _So this is more like the Stephen Bartowski Chuck described._ Though her spy senses tingled, she pushed down the rising suspicion and sucked in a breath, moving down the hallway. "Crazy." He seemed fine with her yesterday so his strange behavior, she made a mental note to stop by Castle on her way home to look at the search results more in depth. She made sure all the lights were off and the coffee machine was off before heading out the door to Ellie's. As was her habit, she locked the door behind her. She figured Stephen wouldn't mind considering he lived like a hermit for the past ten years. As she put her keys back inside her bag, she looked up and saw Evie sitting with Casey on the fountain. She froze. Taking a moment before moving, she swallowed and scurried past them to Ellie's managing to say a polite, "Good morning," as she went by.

Ellie was in the kitchen cooking and looked up when she heard the door. She saw her brother's girlfriend leaning her forehead against it and narrowed her eyes curiously. No one was supposed to be here until later. Not only that, Sarah didn't knock- which was completely unlike her. Ellie put down the batter she was mixing and went to the living room. "Sarah?" By the time she reached the door, Sarah had yet to acknowledge her. "Sarah, are you alright?" Ellie brought her hand up to Sarah's shoulder which finally seemed to break her trance though she flinched. "Sarah?"

With her forehead still pressed against the door, Sarah rolled her head to face Ellie. "Yes?"

Ellie took one look at Sarah's glassy eyes and her heart dropped. "Are you alright?" Sarah shut her eyes tightly and turned away. "Did something happen with Chuck?"

In spite of the emotional crisis, Sarah almost laughed. Her mouth flashed with a quick smile as she shook her head, "No. He's perfect." She had to admire Ellie's protective nature when it came to Chuck. Ellie was the definition of a mother hen to the T. And of all the things Sarah had to worry about today, for once, Chuck was not on that list- at least not for anything other than job related. In fact, he was the one part of her life that had absolutely no turmoil. _For once._

"Okay." Ellie licked her lips anxiously. The small grin Sarah gave at the mention of Chuck did little to appease her. This was an entirely different mood than she was used to with Sarah. Give her a sullen Chuck or Morgan any day and she'd know right away what to do. But Sarah . . . "Um, would you like to sit down?"

"No."

"'Kay," Ellie nodded and started to rub Sarah's back, thinking about what to do. Her gut was telling her to wait it out but again, it was Sarah. Guts and intuition flew out the window at times. "We can stay here as long as you'd like."

As simple as Sarah wanted to keep this, she didn't factor seeing Evie into things. That threw her for a loop especially with how things stood between them. She needed to get control of the situation or mainly just her emotions but that proved to be difficult since Evie wouldn't talk to her. She took a few deep breaths and managed to bury the urge to cry in frustration. Still refusing to make any sort of eye contact, Sarah licked her lips and asked, "Do you remember when you asked about my sister and Chuck said it was complicated?"

Ellie felt like rolling her eyes and teasing Sarah but in lieu of Sarah's state chose to say a neutral, "Yes."

"Okay, well, when I was younger, my parents fought a lot. It was almost a nightly ritual actually." Sarah gave a humorless laugh. "They'd fight, my dad would leave and my little sister would stay with me until she felt reassured that everything would be fine. It kind of became a comfortable routine for us until one night my parents had a different argument. I don't know how it was different. It just was. And when my sister came for the usual reassurances, I said all the same things I normally did but it felt . . . empty, like I knew something was coming. And then, when my dad came back that night, he woke me up and the next thing I knew we were driving away. I haven't seen or spoken to my sister since then."

"Oh, Sarah, I'm so sorry."

Sarah sighed heavily and turned around to lean back against the door. "Every chance I got I tried to piece it together to figure out what happened to her- where she went. About a year after I left, my mother died. From what, I'm not sure but I never really looked into it because . . . well, that's just a whole different story. But anyway, that caused my sister to be put into the system. So I tracked her through every foster family she stayed with until one day there was nothing. It's like she vanished." Her voice almost cracked and she swallowed. "And, you know, I tried really hard to be okay with that. That maybe I wasn't meant to find her after all. I thought I was doing okay. And everything was fine up until a few days ago."

"When I brought it up?" Ellie's face contorted with pain. "Oh, Sarah, I'm so sorry. I didn't know."

"Its okay, Ellie. It wasn't actually you that did it. It was . . . I found her."

"You found her?"

"Stumbled upon her really. She's-" Sarah paused and took a steadying breath, looking at Ellie for the first time. "She's John's niece."

Ellie brought a hand to her mouth in shock. "Eve's your sister?" As Sarah nodded, more dots connected and a picture started to form. "So that means you're her donor."

"Pretty much."

"But that's good, right? You've found her. Now you guys can get to know each other again and-"

Sarah shook her head, making Ellie stop. "Evie doesn't want to have anything to do with me and I'm just sort of struggling with accepting that."

"But why? She knows you looked for her, right? Surely someone must have told her that you were looking for her."

She shrugged, "I don't know. But it's okay. Someday I'll be okay with it. Someday it will be enough to know that she is healthy and alive with a family that loves her." She brushed the hair that had fallen out of her ponytail behind her ear. "I'm just grateful that should the worst happen, I got to see her again." Sarah sniffled and stood up straight. "Anyway, I have an appointment at the hospital so I'm not going to be able to make it to your breakfast. I'm sorry."

"No, don't even worry about it. Time is of the essence, I'm sure. Chuck's going with you, right? He does know about all this?"

"Yes, he knows but I told him not to come. You guys have loads of family stuff to do with the wedding and everything-"

"Sarah," Ellie rolled her eyes and sighed. "The wedding is taken care of. As long as I have you and my brother for the actual ceremony part everything else is just icing on the cake. If I had my way, the wedding would be on a beach and not quite so extravagant but that's neither here nor there. And as for the family part, you _are_ a part of this family, Sarah. Me, Devon, Chu- well especially Chuck- we all love you. We want what's best for you. Seriously, I'm tempted to go have a word with Evelyn myself-"

Sarah smiled at Ellie's protectiveness but objected, "Please don't."

Ellie gave Sarah as soft smile, "The point is, Sarah, I know you're a strong person but donating is an extremely emotional process regardless of who you're doing it for. There are tests and long waits and questioning and you just- you need all the support you can get. Besides if Chuck doesn't go with you, I know he'll be fretting over you all day and no one wants that."

Sarah let out a knowing laugh. She knew Ellie was right. That was her guy. It was sweet and made her feel more cared about- more wanted- than she had in a long time. With a guilty blush, she said, "He does that sometimes." _Just one of the many qualities you love about him._

"Well, he should. The boy is head over heels in love with you."

The deepening blush and smile caused Sarah to look down momentarily and bite her lip. How great was it to know that other people noticed it too? It wasn't just something she dreamed up. And now that she was allowed to indulge in such statements, she would. Keeping her tone light so as not make Ellie nervous, she said, "You think so?"

"I know so. Honestly, Sarah, it's not a big deal. Go take care of what you need to and we'll be the perfect distraction for when you get back."

"Okay. Just let Chuck have breakfast first. I can't eat anything yet and I know he won't eat in front of me. No sense in having both of us starve." It was never her intent to share that much with Ellie and yet, she felt so much better for doing it. And the world didn't collapse on itself. "Thank you, Ellie. Really."

"You're so welcome." Ellie smiled and gave Sarah a hug. "The next time you guys say something is complicated, I'll just let it go."

Sarah laughed once and let go. She looked at her watch and saw she had ten minutes to spare before she had to leave. "So I have a little time before I have to go. Would you like some help with breakfast?"

Ellie smiled. "Sure."

..-. .- - .. .-.. -.- - .- - - . .-. … … - - .-.

After Sarah rushed past them this morning, Casey had been intent on filling Eve in about his partner. He didn't know how to bring up emotional things and Sarah walking past offered the perfect opportunity however Trisha and Beckman came out a moment later, ready to head back to the hospital. So now they sat in Eve's room for another day of twiddling thumbs. _This is getting old._ It's not that he didn't love Eve. He was just not used to idle as a primary setting.

Eve sat on bed flipping through channels but paying more attention to her family. Her mom was reading the same book _again_; Grams was hovering over files and huffing in frustration when she realized she didn't have everything she needed; and Uncle Casey's finger kept twitching. _They need to get out of here._ Eve turned off the TV and looked around, deciding who to break the ice with first. Instead she went for everyone. "Alright everyone, stop." Three confused sets of eyes turned to her. "Seriously, guys. Get out of here. I'm back in the hospital, I promise I won't go anywhere but you're driving me nuts." No one said anything but they kept staring. "Honestly, don't any of you have other things you need to do? Grams, I know you must have something at some base somewhere that has everything you need for whatever mission it is that you're planning, right? And, Mom, that's the fifth time you've read that book. Knowing you, it's probably memorized by now. Why don't you go get another one? And you need to go shoot a gun or something, Uncle Casey, because your finger's twitching."

Casey looked around exchanging glances with the two women. No one said anything but hey, if Eve was offering a get out of jail free card then he would take it. He slapped his legs as he stood and started to put on his coat. "I'm out. Anyone need a ride anywhere?"

"There's a Barnes and Noble within walking distance. I can manage."

"And I'll have a car pick me up."

He grunted with acknowledgement and started for the door. "I'll be back before visiting hours are over, Newt."

"Bye, Uncle Casey," Eve said. She called after him with a passing thought, "Say hi to Grace for me!" She doubted that Uncle Casey planned on going to see Grace at all but the statement would plant the seed so maybe he'd end up going. No missions meant no prep work which meant all his guns were already clean and he'd need something else to do. And Grace had the seal of approval from all who were present and accounted for in the room. True, Grams hadn't said anything but Eve knew.

..-. .- - .. .-.. -.- - .- - - . .-. … … - - .-.

Casey went to Castle and stared at the gun racks. Every gun you'd imagine owning was in this bunker. There was enough fire power and ammo to arm a small battalion. And that made him smile. One by one, Casey delicately re-cleaned each piece of equipment like they were prized possessions, aimlessly allowing his mind to wander. He thought about what to say to Eve about Walker. In his opinion, Walker deserved at least one shot at explaining how she looked for Eve and how 'sorry' she was for leaving, even though it still wasn't her fault that she had to leave. Eve would come to see that. He had no doubt she would. She was a good person. She just needed time to figure things out. Personally he was more frustrated with himself for not seeing the resemblance sooner. Sure he hadn't seen Eve in almost three years but he always thought his memory was better than that. It was a sad realization coming to know you couldn't remember things as clearly as you used to.

Perhaps that was just another sign that it was time to semi-resign from his post. As long as Bartowski had that damn computer in his head, he had no intention of leaving. Bartowski didn't have to know that Casey wasn't just putting up with him anymore. Hell, the guy should already know that since Casey'd told him about Ilsa and took him for beers after his fight with Walker. He wasn't the mushy type and he'd never sugar-coat it for Chuck but they've come to be friends.

Thinking about retirement though, made Casey start to wonder what happened after this. He wasn't cutout for desk work but he couldn't be a field-agent forever. Even he knew that. After talking it over with Eve and deciding this would be his last mission, he had to get cracking on a plan of action and decide what he wanted to do with his time. He supposed he could do something like become a drill sergeant. Teach the newcomers to take over. At least then he'd know they were trained correctly. But did he really want to come home to an empty house and eat burnt hot pockets while watching an old war documentary? Would that really be satisfying?

Casey finished with all the guns and stepped back to look at his handy work with a pleased grunt. Everything was equally spaced and in the proper order. He looked at his watch and almost balked at the time. Cleaning all the guns barely put a dent in time. He rolled his eyes and couldn't believe he almost found himself wishing he had a shift at the Buy More. At least it passed the hours between missions. It was lunch time though.

Thinking about lunch brought another thought to mind. Grace would figure nicely into retirement. He liked spending time with her. She was different. She knew what she wanted and didn't play stupid little games. Knowing she had a little crush on him boosted his ego more than he though it would. But now that's probably gone after what he did at the hospital. He's probably scared her off or she was angry that he hadn't called. A few times yesterday he'd picked up his phone to call but could never force himself to go through with it. She hadn't tried to call either so maybe that meant she didn't want him to. _Well, suck it up, Johnny Boy. You'll never know unless you try._

With that in mind, Casey shut off all the lights and headed for the diner in hopes that she'd be there.

..-. .- - .. .-.. -.- - .- - - . .-. … … - - .-.

Grace tiredly wiped down her last table for the day. It was only twelve thirty and it had already been a long day. Most of it was spent worrying about John. She hadn't seen him since he punched a hole in the wall. She wanted to know if he was okay or just to see how he was handling it. Eve obviously meant a lot to him and from what she'd gathered so far, John didn't have many people he was close to. He must be so upset about Eve's choice. Even she was upset and she hardly knew Eve.

"Grace, are you alright?"

She took a deep breath and looked up, plastering a smile on her face for her manager. "Everything's fine, Natalie."

"Are you sure? You've been quite distracted today." Grace was her best employee and it wasn't like her to be so withdrawn.

"Yes, I'm sorry." She used her forearm to brush away her bangs. "I'm just- I'm worried about a friend."

Natalie nodded and smiled. "This friend wouldn't happen to be the handsome six-four man standing at the door- carrying a bouquet of lovely flowers, I might add?" She knew that the man was a regular here and that recently he'd struck up a more direct relationship with Grace. Grace has had her fair share of admirer's since she'd started working for Natalie- Grace was just that kind of woman. You met her and immediately liked her. It's probably the biggest reason for the size of tips she gets from patrons. But Grace hardly let any of them get close so this one must be something special to her.

"What?" Grace turned around to look at the door, the surprise causing her heart to race. "John," she said to herself. She looked back to the table and groaned at the tub of dirty dishes she had to take back.

Natalie smiled wider and reached out for the tub at the same time. "No worries. I got this."

Grace smiled gratefully. "Thank you." She took a calming breath as she strode over to John, patting her hair and brushing her hands down the front of her uniform.

_Oh, great. She's nervous,_ John thought. His adam's-apple bobbed up and down as he took a couple steps to meet her.

"John," she said almost in a whisper. "What are you doing here?"

"Ah, hi," he said clumsily. He looked down and saw the flowers in his hand and thrust them out to her. "Um, these are for you." He'd never had to apologize much to a woman before but any time it happened in the movies, the man always seemed to give the woman flowers so he stopped by the flower peddler on the corner.

Grace took the proffered with a smile. "Thank you, John. They're lovely." She immediately recognized the gladiolus' and pink roses mixed together in a quaint arrangement. She knew pink roses meant grace. Her father used to call her rosebud when she was growing up and she had to swallow the lump that formed with the memory. "Uh, what- what do the gladiolus' mean?"

Casey shrugged, "Means sword in Latin. I just thought they were pretty." He pointed to the roses and said, "But the roses mean-"

"Yeah, grace," she interrupted, seemingly standoffish. "I know." She cleared her throat and repeated her earlier question, "So what brings you here? I thought for sure you'd be with Eve."

"It was getting a bit crowded in the hospital room so she asked us to leave."

Grace's eyes narrowed with confusion, "Hospital room? I thought that-"

"She changed her mind."

"Great," she smiled largely, "That's wonderful news." They stood awkwardly for a few moments before Grace added, "I've been worried you. You haven't called."

It'd been a long time since someone's worried about him and his head pulled back in shock. Had he been reading her body language all wrong? "I wasn't sure you wanted me to. I thought I might have scared you."

"You didn't scare me." Grace reached out to grab his forearm. "I wanted to call but Diane said to give you time so I didn't. W- We're friends, John. I care about you."

The ball of nervous tension coiled in his stomach finally released and he felt himself relax for the first time since he came in the door. "Sorry I didn't call."

"It's fine. I completely understand. Eve is very important to you. You should be with her."

John nodded. "How much longer do you have on your shift?"

"Just finished, actually."

"Oh," he said. "Would you like to get some lunch?"

"Sure," she said. "But then I have to go pick up some parts to fix my car. The connectors for my battery need to be replaced."

"You fix cars?" John asked somewhat astonished, but then he berated himself for the question. _Of course she can take care of herself._

She tilted her head from side to side. "I can do some things. This one I'll have to read up on but I'm pretty confident I can do it."

"I can help if you'd like."

"Are you sure? I don't want to put you out."

John shrugged. "We're friends right?" he repeated to her. "As long as I get back to see Eve before visiting hours are up, I have all day."

She laughed. "Okay, great. I'll just go get my stuff." Grace turned on her heel and walked to the back bringing the flowers up to her nose for a sniff.

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After lunch, John had Grace follow him over to his apartment. They'd gotten the parts they needed to fix her car but he had a wider range of equipment and tools they could use to figure out how to change them. The guy at the auto parts store explained how it was supposed to be done but it would be interesting to see if that's actually how it worked out. On the way there, she realized it'd been a while since she changed the brakes and bought new ones so she wouldn't have to do them later. He for sure knew how to fix those, as did she, so they could split the difference and be done in half the time. He went to his apartment to change into a raggedy old shirt and grabbed an extra one for Grace. When he came down stairs, she was finishing up mixing baking soda and water together. "Here. I brought this for you."

Grace smiled and took the shirt from him. "Thanks, John." She threw the shirt on over her uniform. "This is a pretty nice place you got here," she said as she peeked around the room. It was very neat and tidy which she loved. She picked up the bowl and waited by the door wondering where his pictures were. There was a distinct lack of pictures except for one of Ronald Regan on the table by the door next to a miniature bonsai tree.

"Thanks." John opened the closet next to his kitchen and reached up on his tip toes to grab down his tools. "I like it. It's the longest place I've lived in a while. Finally starting to feel like home, I guess." He opened the door and let her out first before double checking to make sure he has keys and locking the door.

"Ah, yes, well it's always nice to feel at home." They walked side by side out to the parking lot. She sucked in a breath and changed to the topic they were here for. "So, where should we start?"

"Well, do you want to start on the brakes or be the one to figure out the battery?"

"Hmmm. Well, you seem like a pretty resourceful guy. I think I'll stick with what I know." She put the concoction on the roof of the car and opened her trunk to get out the tire iron and jack.

"Pft," John huffed and shook his head while he went to his Crown Victoria to get blocks they could put behind the back tires. After making sure they were properly secured, he helped her get the lug nuts loosened before she raised the car on the jack. Once that was done, he grabbed the packages to read the directions.

Grace finished taking off the tire and got to work removing the caliper. Normally while doing any routine maintenance, she'd listen to her radio but with the battery being disconnected that wasn't an option this time. Instead, she struck up a conversation. "So did someone teach you about cars or did you just sort of figure it out for yourself?"

"My dad was a mechanic in the Air Force, mainly for planes but he knew cars too. As I got older he let me tinker with things so it was a bit of both, I guess." Satisfied that he understood the directions, he started to disconnect the corroded ends of the cable to take the battery out. He put it on the ground and set the bowl next to it being sure to be on the same side as Grace so they could talk.

"That's cool of him." When John grunted with a hint of disdain, Grace decided to let the topic drop. But a small part of her was happy he actually shared something with her. "My dad told me I couldn't get my learner's permit until I knew how to change a flat tire and show him where to check the oil and top off the fluids."

"Smart guy," he said as he took an old toothbrush and started to clean off the battery.

"Yeah, he was," she recalled sadly. "Except he never got to show me so I took an auto mechanics class in high school to keep my promise."

He gave her a look of understanding but didn't say anything in the way of condolences. He was pretty sure she'd had enough of that over the years. "Did you at least enjoy the class?"

"Oh, sure. It provided an excellent source of basic automotive knowledge while simultaneously providing a fascinating look into the mind of the teenage boy, and, for an added bonus, it pissed off Gertrude because 'girls are not supposed to know how to fix things like cars'," Grace said, mimicking her aunt's voice as best as possible.

John chuckled as he remembered Gertrude quite well from when he met her at the wedding. And it was just the sort of thing she would say. They spent the rest of the afternoon swapping stories. Grace found it was easier for John to open up if he had something to occupy his hands with. She was surprised to learn he was a choir boy as he never struck her for the type. She tried to get him to sing but the man was more stubborn than an untamed stallion. He regaled her with stories from boot camp and told her about David. Aside from the one comment about his dad, he never brought up any family members.

Grace told him stories from when she took a year off her life to travel around the world for perspective after her fiancé left her for her cousin. She didn't go into that topic, as they both seemed to prefer keeping the stories light. She did tell him about her parents but nothing about when they died. He could tell she was sad that they were gone but grateful that she had them and remembered them with fondness. He knew he could bring them up without setting off the waterworks though he probably wouldn't. All in all, it was an afternoon filled with laughter and light bickering. By the end, they were up to their elbows in grease but neither minded.

Ellie pulled up with her dad, Devon, and his parents as Grace was dropping the car. "Hey guys," she said with an amused smile as she made her way to them while the others went inside. She liked seeing the two of them together. They were sweet. "What are you fixing?"

"We just finished actually. I needed some new brakes and stuff so John was helping me."

"That's nice," Ellie said and waited for them to be done with the car jack. While John was double checking that the tire were on tight enough, Grace walked over to Ellie. "So, listen, I know this is short notice but are you both free tonight?"

"Well, I am but I think John said he was going back to the hospital."

"Okay, well, Devon's parents have reservations for dinner at this fancy Italian place, if you'd like to come. His brothers were supposed to come but something came up so we have two extra seats."

"Oh, um," Grace looked down at the greasy shirt over top of her work uniform, "I don't exactly have the proper attire-"

"I have a dress you can use."

John put everything back into Grace's trunk and then went over to the women. He stood next to Grace with his hands clasped behind his back. "You can use my shower if you'd like."

"Really?" she asked. He nodded once. "Well, great. I love Italian food."

"Excellent. You're welcome to come too, John."

He shook his head. "I should go back to the hospital."

"Can you come afterwards?"

Visiting hours were over at eight. He supposed if he hurried he could do both. "I guess I could but I'll probably be late."

"It's not a problem." Ellie smiled, "Chuck and Sarah will be late as well. I'll get the address and bring it over when I bring the dress."

"Okay, thanks, Ellie," Grace said cheerfully. As Ellie was leaving she turned to John with a huge smile. "I'm excited. Come on. Let's clean up all this stuff."

He watched her walk away a skip of enthusiasm in her step. Without realizing it, the corners of his mouth raised. He seemed to smile a lot more these days. Especially when Grace was around. Normally he found such situations agitating but with Grace he just found it endearing. _Wait, what am I thinking?_ he thought once he noticed what he was doing._ Focus._ He shook his head as he went to help Grace finish cleaning up.

Tonight will be interesting.

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A/N 2: Next chapter is date night. I don't know if you remember from forever and a decade ago that we were supposed to have a date night, but hey better late than never, hopefully. Chapter 27 also includes some things that people have been asking to have happen so stay tuned. Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed it =)


	27. Chapter 27

A/N: Hey everyone! I hope you all had a most excellent holiday season and may this year hold open many doors for you.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything. I asked but Santa said no.

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Chapter 27

"Good morning, Agent Walker. I'm sorry for keeping you waiting." Dr. Williams held up a file as he walked to his desk. "The CIA certainly doesn't like releasing medical records to just anyone."

Sarah gave him a bland smile. "They like their secrets."

"No doubt. We're lucky the General did a lot of the leg work when deciding if I could treat Evelyn. It certainly expedited the process," he said as he leaned back in his chair. "So, just you today or should we wait for Mr. Bartowski?"

"Just me for now. Chuck should be coming in an hour or so but he had some things to help his sister with."

"Yes, well, everyone here knows how close Dr. Bartowski is to her brother." When the agent merely nodded in response, he raised his brow and sat up straight, thinking it best not to waste time. "Alright then, let's get down to business. Have you read over the information I gave you for the donor process?"

"Yes."

"Okay, good. I'll still be explaining the process in full, but, before I do, did you have any questions, concerns, comments about what you read?"

Sarah paused for a moment in thought. "Just one thing, mainly. The information you provided said the whole process can take up to three or more weeks. Is there any way of knowing about how long it will be before the actual transplant takes place?"

"It's hard to say. It all depends on how well the patient responds to the preparative regimen and we can't start that until we have the certainty of a follow-through on your part as the patient would undoubtedly be unable to recover from our more aggressive approach."

"Dr. Williams," she said, fixing him with a pointed stare, "I can assure you I will not be changing my mind."

Dr. Williams considered the woman across from him. Years in this business have taught him to read people and as hard as Eve was to read sometimes, Sarah was likely the most difficult case yet. Even putting aside her profession, he'd still believe she'd be the worst. The only card she was allowing to show at the moment was her fervor to follow-through. Anything else was shrouded in suspicion as if waiting for him to misstep. He'd bet good money to say that she'd already done more than enough research to teach him a thing or two about the transplant process.

He gave her a small nod with a smile. "Excellent," he said softly. "Okay, so, most of the tests needed before the transplant can be done today and should everything square away with no risks or concerns on your behalf, you'll need to plan on at least three more trips. I don't foresee any more than that at this time however that is subject to change depending on how well the patient responds on her end. Uh, we'll need to do a full physical exam- blood tests, EKG, chest x-ray et cetera and so forth. Now, on a different note, normally the donor is not given the choice between a marrow transplant or peripheral blood stem cell donation, but, given your job and the differences in recovery time, I will leave that decision to you; however it is in my professional opinion that marrow be the option you choose."

Sarah had learned very quickly that when it came to research and Chuck, he did an extensively thorough job. He'd stayed up for hours getting information about each process and defining all the terminology he didn't understand. He had made a list of the pros and cons for both options. At the very top of the pro lists, he wrote: **CHUCK GETS TO TAKE CARE OF SARAH** with a big smiley face next to it which made her laugh. By the time they went to bed, it was almost three o'clock in the morning. All of that aside, though, if Dr. Williams recommended marrow, then marrow it would be. He was, after all, the expert. "Marrow's fine."

"Great. Assuming no concerns should come from the tests then there are a few things we need to discuss regarding the actual collection process . . ."

Sarah sat quietly while Dr. Williams began to explain the process in immense detail. A lot of it was restating what she'd already read from the pamphlet and from the research Chuck had done. Dr. Williams reviewed her medical records with her and explained what to avoid between now and the time of the transplant. They discussed any and all side effects, and what options were available for life, health, and disability insurance. He explained where Eve's condition stood and went over the likelihood of a successful outcome. When he finished, she pulled out the list of questions she and Chuck had written down. Most of them had been answered so she just reconfirmed what she'd been told to make sure she understood what to do.

"Alright, Agent Walker, is there anything else I can answer for you?" She shook her head and Dr. Williams nodded. "Great. I'll need you to sign this consent to donate form while I get Ethan to show you to an exam room." He slid the form across the desk and stood to exit the office. He appreciated so much when donors came well informed. It made the information sessions run more smoothly and quickly.

Sarah read through the standardized form carefully. As a former con artist, she knew not to sign anything unless she was absolutely certain she understood everything contained in the document. _'It's just good business,_' her dad would say. Satisfied that everything was in order, she signed the form as Dr. Williams came back in with an attending in tow.

"Ms. Walker, this is Ethan Gallagher. He'll be in charge of completing most of your tests today."

Sarah stood and extended her hand to him with a slight smile. "Nice to meet you."

Ethan gave her a quick nod and shook her hand. "If you'll come with me, we can get started."

"I'll be by to check up on you in a bit," Dr. Williams said.

As Ethan lead the way out, Sarah took a deep, settling breath before following. She didn't know why she felt so nervous all of a sudden. It wasn't like they were going to find a reason that she wouldn't be able to donate. She was perfectly healthy. So why was it that she felt adrift? _God, I wish Chuck was with me. _Almost before the thought could finish, her head was shaking in disbelief at herself. It wasn't the first time this morning she'd wished he had come with her right from the get go. When had she become so dependant on him? She was a strong, capable woman entirely practiced in taking care of herself- by herself. She didn't need anybody yet all she wanted right now was to feel the weight of his hand in hers and know that someone was there for her.

"Hey," Chuck said as he ran up to them. "I'm glad I caught you guys." Ethan turned to look at the man that had joined them and Chuck stuck out his hand. "Chuck Bartowski."

"Ethan Gallagher," he said taking his hand. "I was just showing Ms. Walker to the exam room."

"Oh, cool. Am I allowed to tag along?"

Ethan looked between the two, deciding what their connection was. Eve's sister had noticeably calmed the moment this Chuck arrived. They were misfits for sure but there was an indefinable simmer of electricity between them. _A geek and a model?_ His brow rose. _I guess I've seen stranger things._ "As long as Ms. Walker says it's okay, then sure, why not?"

"Of course he can come. I don't mind at all," Sarah answered swiftly, practically gaping in disbelief at Chuck. It was as if she had summoned him. Of course, logically, she knew he was coming but she was still surprised nonetheless. They walked side by side behind Ethan. Chuck hadn't made a move to touch her at all, which she found oddly disappointing. Not even a hug. "I thought you'd still be eating."

"Nah, I ate really quickly so Devon's brothers could drop me off on their way to . . ." his eyes narrowed in thought, "something about a boat race or show, I think. I don't know. But, hey, let's not talk about food. I know you can't eat anything." He pulled his messenger bag to the front so he could look through it while they followed. "I did, however, bring you your favorite brand of bottled water," he handed it to her, "my PSP with games-a-plenty on it that I can teach you," he waived it in the air before putting it back in his bag, "and a Cosmo magazine."

"A Cosmo magazine?" Sarah repeated dryly, taking the magazine from him and looking over the cover.

"Well, I don't know. It was the girliest magazine they had at the check-out stand and-"

"'_Sex He Craves', 'The Easy Way to Boost Your Sex Drive', 'Get Butt Naked- 50 Fun Things to do Bare-Assed'_-" Sarah shot Chuck a look, "Oh, now, you're just trying to get me all hot and bothered."

"What?" Chuck shrieked. "No, no, no, no- I wasn't- I, uh- I- I was trying to get you something to pass the time. That's all. I promise. No ulterior motives. Please don't hate me . . ."

If it was in her nature to do so, she would have thrown her head back and laughed. Instead, she gave him a small laugh and bumped his shoulder, "Relax, Chuck. I'm just messing with ya."

Ethan bit back a smile. The certainly shared an odd relationship. "I'm going to get out a gown for you," he said and disappeared into the exam room.

Sarah made Chuck pause just outside the door before entering. She licked her lips and stepped into his personal space, rising up to whisper in his ear, "For future reference, I doubt that there's anything in here I don't already know." Chuck's jaw hung open as Sarah dropped back. She smiled and tapped him lightly on the cheek.

"Oh, now, you're just being mean," he said.

Her smile took a turn to the sly side and she clasped her hands behind her back. "Possibly," she said crossing the threshold to the room, "They taught me all about being girly at the Farm.

"Okay," Ethan said as Chuck shook himself from his stupor, "I'll need you to change into this. You're welcome to store your clothes and any other personal belongings in the cupboard." He pointed at a door in the corner. "The restroom is through that door. There's a cup in there for a urine sample. Please don't flush or wash your hands until I come back."

"Okay," Sarah said. "Thanks."

"I'll be back shortly and we'll get started."

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The rest of the morning and early afternoon passed rather quickly. They finished all the tests they could do today. Sarah was grateful for Ethan's efficient approach. The longest wait was for the x-ray machine. All afternoon, Sarah had mercilessly teased Chuck with the magazine he'd given her, giving a 'huh' or a long drawn out hum every so often, sometimes going as far as to say, 'that's interesting' or 'ooo, that'd be fun.' Thank goodness the x-ray technician loved Cosmo and Sarah gave away the magazine. Chuck almost thought he'd be a permanent cherry with how much he'd blushed while she read through it.

Since all the other tests were completed before the x-ray, Ethan told Chuck that Sarah would be cleared to eat once it was complete. Sarah had practically swooned in relief. Chuck heard her stomach growling all afternoon and while she hadn't complained, he knew she was starving. So, instead of waiting for her to be done, he ran down to the cafeteria to get her a snack and met her back at the room. Ellie had texted to tell them that they had dinner plans with the Awesome's at an Italian restaurant, and with Italian food being her favorite, he didn't want to spoil it.

Now, the two were cuddled on the gurney, reading a comic book Chuck had purchased for himself and waiting for Dr. Williams to discuss the results with them. Chuck held one side of his comic book and Sarah held the other. His other hand rested above her head, allowing only his fingertips to brush through her hair. Sarah used her other free hand to feed both of them Cheetos. They worked together to turn pages.

She bit the last Cheeto in half and gave Chuck the other half before licking her fingers clean. She'd considered letting Chuck help but decided against it. In a lot of ways, she felt like a cat in heat and Chuck's assistance would only exacerbate that. "You know, I just gotta say it. I'm soo glad we are getting real food after this. These Cheetos didn't quite hit the spot," she said, crumbling up the package. They lowered the comic book out of the way and Sarah took aim, throwing the wrapper like a dart toward the trash.

He raised one arm as it sailed through the air. When it went in his face lit up in glee, and he threw up his other arm as best he could. "GOAL!" he cheered.

Sarah laughed as she looked up at him, "I believe that's 'nuttin' but the bottom of the net'- or in this case the bin."

"Alright, so sports aren't my thing. Relax," Chuck smiled as he leaned down to press his lips gently against hers in a celebratory kiss, keeping it short since Dr. Williams could walk in at any moment. When he pulled away, he whispered, "_Swoosh_."

Sarah hummed and curled more into Chuck. She breathed in deeply, tightening her arms around him before releasing. The steady beat of his heart started to lull her into a peaceful rest. The earlier debate she'd had with herself about being needy was surmised by deciding that she could do this on her own, she just simply didn't want to and if having Chuck with her made it easier, then, for once, she would take the easy way. He probably had no idea how much she decided to rely on him. She smoothed out the wrinkles of his shirt and mumbled quietly into his chest, "Chuck, I'm really glad you came today."

Chuck smiled and wiggled his arm around her to hug her as best he could. "I'm glad you changed your mind," he said and the pressed his lips to the top of her head. "You're the strongest, most independent person I know and it means a lot that you'd let me help."

How was it that he knew exactly what she needed to hear? Sarah felt a small smile tug at her lips as she scooted closer to him. Any further and she would have been on top of him but they did not need a repeat of this morning.

Chuck picked up his side of the comic book and read while Sarah rested. They hadn't gotten much sleep last night, and if he was feeling tired, Sarah must be worse off since she hadn't been able to eat anything with sustenance all day. He wished their lack of sleep was for more fun reasons but those would come all in good time. Sarah was never meant to be a conquest for him. He wasn't that kind of guy but he was still a guy who enjoyed being intimate. This morning just proved to him that it was getting harder to keep those feelings in check. But he would wait until the time was right and everything was perfect.

Dr. Williams knocked on the door before entering to find the couple embracing happily on the bed. "I'm not interrupting anything, am I?" he teased with a smile. _Oh, to be young again . . ._

"Nope," Chuck laughed and Sarah forced herself to alertness, "Just reading a comic book." He slithered out from under Sarah and sat down in the chair next to the bed being sure to keep hold of her hand while they turned their attention to the doctor.

Dr. Williams took the wheeled stool on the opposite side. "Okay, Agent Walker, we've received most of the results of your tests. So far everything looks great. You're in amazing health. All of your numbers are on the better end of the healthy spectrum, which means that later tonight we will begin intense rounds of chemotherapy to the patient. We have to give it enough time to see if a dent can be made in her counts. But as long as that goes well, then we can expect to have the transplant completed within a few weeks. We'll need to schedule those three other appointments to take your blood." He looked specifically at Chuck since he hadn't been in the information session. "The blood is-"

"An autologous blood donation," Chuck nodded, "For Sarah, after the transplant."

"Oh, good. You know."

Sarah squeezed Chuck's hand. "Chuck did most of the research about the process."

Dr. Williams nodded approvingly, "Excellent. It's very important that you have all the support you need during this process and I can see you'll get it."

Sarah shrugged unashamed. "What can I say? I have a fantastic boyfriend."

Chuck blushed and dipped his head while Dr. Williams smiled. "Well, that's good to hear," he said taking a look at his watch. "We are all done for today unless you have any questions or anything you want to add."

"I'm okay," Sarah said and then looked at Chuck waiting for him to answer. She wanted him to feel included.

It took a second for Chuck to realize that they were waiting for him to answer. "Oh, uh, nothing from me."

"Okay. I'll have Ethan come to schedule your appointments and you're free to go afterwards," Dr. Williams said. He stood and shook their hands. "Enjoy the rest of your evening."

"Thanks, Dr. Williams."

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It didn't take long for them to square away Sarah's next appointments and they were on their way home. Chuck accidentally fell asleep but Sarah didn't mind. If he was asleep, she could drive as fast as she wanted to without fear of making him scared. Besides, she was able to catch a few catnaps here and there at the hospital. After she pulled into the complex, she gently nudged Chuck awake. "Hmm," he mumbled sleepily and then groaned as he realized where they were.

Sarah laughed and shook him to get him to wake up more. "Come on, sleepyhead. Time's a wasting."

Chuck rubbed his face and then stretched before he got out of the car. Sarah waited for him at the entryway to the courtyard. Once his door was shut, she made sure her doors were locked with her keyless entry. When he got to her, he put his arm around her shoulder and she his waist and they wandered to the courtyard.

Ellie came out of her apartment carrying a dress and small bag, heading for John's but she stopped when she saw the couple. "Hey, guys," she said. "How'd your appointment go, Sarah?"

"Everything checked out. Dr. Williams said that I'm in perfect health and the transplant should be done within a few weeks."

"Great!"

"Where are you going with the dress?" Chuck asked.

"Oh, Grace and John are coming with us since Trevor and Riley went to that boat thing. So she needed a dress and I'm letting her borrow one of mine."

"Casey has a date and we get to see it?" Chuck smiled with glee. "Awesome."

Ellie rolled her eyes. "Oh, leave him alone, Little Brother. They're cute together." She turned her attention to the more mature of the two. "We'll be heading out in about ten minutes. John and Grace will be meeting us there. He wanted to stop by the hospital to check on Eve."

"Okay. We shouldn't be too far behind you. I'm _starving_."

"Yeah, I'll bet." Ellie looked at Sarah with sympathy. "Well, I'll leave you guys to get ready. The sooner you're done, the sooner you can get to the restaurant."

"'Kay. See you later, Sis."

Once they got inside, Sarah went to the calendar on the fridge and wrote in her appointments. She wasn't worried about remembering but Chuck might forget even though it wouldn't be his intention to.

"Wow! Lookin' sharp, Dad," Chuck said as Stephen rounded the corner.

"You like it?" he asked sticking his arms out and looking it over. "I don't know. Honey made me get it." He wiped his hands down the front and squinted at Sarah. "What do you think, Sarah?"

After how he'd treated her this morning, she was surprised he asked but she hid it well. Of course, now Chuck was here. Stephen seemed fine with her when Chuck was around. "Uh, it's very dapper," she said, "Honey has excellent taste. The shirt really brings out your eyes." He was wearing a dark charcoal suit paired with an electric blue shirt and his tie matched the suit. His usually unruly hair was brushed neatly but it was clear he hadn't put any product in it to keep it that way. She suspected that by the end of the night, it would be back to how it normally looked. But she had to admit, he could clean up nicely. It was a vast improvement over the sweaters that reminded her a little of Mr. Roger's Neighborhood. She sucked in a breath and looked up at Chuck. "I'm gonna go shower." She kissed his cheek and skirted around Stephen.

Stephen fiddled with the pocket of his suit coat. "Well, I'd better get to Ellie's. Don't want to be late," he said. "Devon's parents are already over there."

"Okay. We'll see you soon, Dad." Chuck pulled out a couple pieces of bread to make a sandwich. Since Sarah was hungry, he figured they could half it just to hold them over until dinner. It was highly unlikely that the food would come quickly after they ordered. He cut the sandwich in half and ate his half while carrying the plate to her room. _Their room,_ he corrected. He set the plate on the night stand closest to the bed where she'd notice it and then searched through the closet for something to wear.

The size of his closet had changed since becoming involved with the CIA. He'd been able to keep quite a few suits which helped for situations like this. To keep it simple, he chose the same outfit he'd worn to meet Sarah's father . . . well, the _second_ time he met her father. After a quick change, he went to his office to play video games while he waited for Sarah to be done. It was then that he noticed his normally cluttered entertainment unit was pretty sparse. _Let's see, the Wii is in the living room for when Sarah and I played together and my xbox is in m- the guest room because I played that COD marathon with Morgan . . . I can just go play in there._

The door squeaked on its hinges as he pushed it open. A fair amount of trepidation curdled in his system as he stood in the doorway inspecting the room. His father was staying here. His father liked his privacy. His father probably wouldn't like it if he went in there. Chuck shook off the feeling as best he could and stepped into the room. It was his house. He was just going to play a game. It wasn't like he would snoop through his dad's things even if something felt . . . off about this room. It seemed ominous and unsettled. The small bag his father had brought with him sat in the corner, zipped tidily. The bed was made to look like it'd never been slept in. A laptop sat on the desk, perfectly square. He dragged his fingers along the machine in thought. Maybe he was crazy to be suspicious, maybe it was just two years of uncertainty speaking but everything seemed too clean, too neat. In fact, even his xbox had been put off to the side.

"Hey, Chuck?"

"Yeah?" he replied distractedly, looking to the doorway as if it were an afterthought. He pulled his hand away and shoved it into his pocket. A flash of Sarah's arm materialized in the doorway and he looked back at the computer on the desk, knowing she would see him in here.

Sarah was surprised when his reply came from the guest room where his father was staying. "Did you leave the sandwich for me?" she asked, remembering she didn't get the chance to make it to Castle to review the records of Stephen Bartowski once Chuck had come to the hospital. Mr. Bartowski's behavior toward her could just be that of a father looking out for his son, but she hadn't given him any reason to be wary of her. Not one that she knew of anyway. And he seemed fine with Devon. Traditionally, the protectiveness of a father landed on their daughters, especially their only daughter. Her own father was enough of a testament to that. He may not have been the most ideal father but she knew on some level he would look out for her, worry about her to some degree.

"Uh, yeah- yeah, I did." He did a quick glance around the room and then tapped his foot against desk. _You're just as crazy as your father._

Sarah's eyes narrowed at Chuck. "Is everything alright?"

"Uh huh," Chuck said, still focusing on the computer. "Why do you ask?"

Her brow rose. "Because I'm standing here in a towel and you've barely acknowledged it."

"What?" His head whipped to her so fast he thought he might have whiplash. His jaw dropped and his eyes glazed over and his whole upper body seemed to slag with shock.

Her lip curled with a slight smile. "And there's the look I was hoping for. You're not becoming immune to me yet, are you?" she teased as she stepped closer to him. Sarah grabbed for his tie that hung loosely undone around his neck and pulled him to her so she could wrap her arms his neck.

Chuck smirked. "No chance of that happening. _Ever_."

"Well, good, because we've just barely started dating _and_ we haven't even had sex yet."

He took a small step forward, forcing Sarah backward. "You know, I prefer the term 'making love,'" he whispered as he leaned mere inches away from her face.

"Really? Why's that?" she asked softly, her knees coming in contact with the bed.

"Because with you," he whispered sensuously, "it could never be just sex."

Sarah lit up with a full blown smile, waiting for him to push her back onto the bed. His voice was husky and masculine making her slowly loose her self-control and rethink taking things slow. Just as he was about to press his lips to hers, her traitorous stomach growled for attention and made the two of them stop and laugh in frustration.

He settled for kissing the tip of her nose and stepping back, giving much needed distance between them before they never made it to the restaurant. "Go finish getting ready so we can get out of here."

Sarah sighed. "I'm really pissed off that we have people staying with us this weekend. I can't believe we're sleeping on our own couch. There were soo many other things I was looking forward to."

Chuck laughed at her retreating form and an idea sprang to mind. If she wanted privacy, he might be able to accommodate.

..-. .- - .. .-.. -.- - .- - - . .-. … … - - .-.

Sarah's hunger kept her from taking too long to get ready even though the sandwich had eased it some. She and Chuck were now standing in the foyer of the restaurant, waiting for the host to become available to show them in. Sarah was straightening up his tie when a familiar face came out of the dining area.

"Chuck, man, hey. Ellie said you'd be here. What took you so long?"

"Morgan?" Chuck was surprised to see his friend and ignored the question, offering one of his own instead, "What are you doing here?"

Before Morgan could answer, Sarah said, "I'm going to take my jacket to the closet."

Chuck and Morgan nodded to acknowledge her statement. They watched her walk away for a moment before Morgan answered, "Gavin invited me. He came by the Buy More today and I helped him out. He knows the owner so he's playing the music tonight as sort of a favor, I guess."

"Oh, cool. I didn't know he was here. Did you bring Anna with you?"

Morgan's face fell. "No. She went back to Taiwan again. I don't know, man, I think it's over. Something's just not clicking any more. I mean, we haven't even moved in together yet. It barely seems like we even talk now."

"I'm sorry, Little Buddy."

Morgan gave a self-depreciating shrug. "That's okay. I knew I couldn't keep a girl like Anna forever." He brightened a little as he said, "But look at the bright side, I finally get to bring my mom to a fancy restaurant and I don't even have to pay."

"Way to see the silver-lining." Chuck shook his head with an amused smirk.

"So you and Sarah, huh?"

"Me and Sarah," he repeated and then furrowed his brow, "What about it?"

"I don't know. You guys just- you seem different somehow."

Chuck bit his lip sheepishly. "It feels different." He looked over to the counter where Sarah was handing over her coat. "I think we're finally reading the same book." She glanced back at him while she waited for her ticket and caught him staring at her. She blushed and turned away, trying to hold back a smile but failed, instead waiving at him. He waived back with a smile.

Morgan watched the exchange with genuine pride. "I'm really, really happy for you, Chuck. Moving in with your girl seems to have worked out everything for you guys. You are free to say I told you so."

"Nah, that's okay. I don't have to."

"No, come on. I told you it was a bad idea."

"Well, yeah. But you said if it _doesn't_ work out then you could say I told you so. I never said that I would say that."

"You're a bigger man than me, Chuck."

"Hey, guys," Sarah said as she walked up to them. "Ready to go in?"

For once, Morgan seemed to know when he should leave first. "Well, my mom's probably back from the bathroom so I guess I'd better get back." He looked at Sarah and gave a small bow, "But first I must say, you look exceptionally lovely this evening."

"Thanks, Morgan," she said as Chuck took her ticket away and put it in his breast pocket for safe keeping.

He sucked in a breath and clapped his hands together in front of him. "Well, see ya," he said and then walked away.

Chuck waited until he was a few paces away before signaling to the host that they were ready to meet their party. He offered Sarah his elbow and said, "He's right, you know."

"About what?" she asked, looping her arm with his and following the host to their table.

"You do look lovely this evening- absolutely stunning."

Sarah dipped her head and smiled at her feet, noticing their strides were in sync. "You may have mentioned that once or twice before."

"It bears repeating," he said smoothly as they made it to the table.

"Here is your table," the host said, his voice thick with an Italian accent.

"Grazie," Sarah said as Chuck held out her chair for her. As she sat down she asked the host for their wine menu in prefect Italian causing all eyes to turn on her. The surprised host exchanged polite conversation with her before leaving with a small bow and a promise of returning quickly.

"Sarah," Ellie said, "I had no idea you knew how to speak Italian."

"Ah, some things. Just the basics really." In reality, Italian was the second language she learned, but they didn't have to know that. Normally she wouldn't have used it; however, she figured that she might possibly be able to make their meals come more quickly if she charmed the waiter and the host. Spy tricks were good for something. The only down side to the plan was the two remaining empty seats. Technically there were four empty seats but two of them she could tell were occupied since the napkins were unravel and one glass had the distinct mark of lipstick on it.

Chuck smiled brightly and played along, "You're just a box full of surprises, aren't you?" He knew she spoke twenty-four languages so it was a safe bet that Italian was one of them. She was adamant that she wasn't fluent in all of them but she could still speak that many which was more than he could say for himself.

"You've no idea," she said mischievously as she took a sip of her water.

Chuck blushed and hid his face in his hands, "But I'm beginning to understand."

"Awesome," Devon said while the rest of the table laughed.

Sarah set the glass down and looked around the restaurant. She found Devon's parents taking a spin on the dance floor with a few of other couples but her partner and his date were not among them. "So where are John and Grace?"

"They texted to tell me they were on their way but she already told me what they wanted so we were just waiting for you guys so we could order," Ellie said.

"Excellent."

Mr. Bartowski had yet to say anything to them. Though his nose was buried in the menu, Sarah had caught him staring at her wrist adorned with the charm bracelet Chuck gave her at Christmas, belatedly remembering Stephen had given it to his wife first. She hadn't thought about it when she put it on. Once she'd decided what to eat, she laid the menu on the table and waited for their waiter to appear to take their order. Self-consciously, she brushed her hand through her hair and brought it to rest under the table on her leg, hoping Mr. Bartowski wouldn't notice it was because of the bracelet.

Luckily Chuck was sitting to her right and linked his fingers through hers. He didn't know why, but all of a sudden he felt like she was uncomfortable and wanted to offer some sort of reassurance. She gave him an appreciative smile. He leaned closer to her, his menu still open, in a way to keep the conversation somewhat private. "So what's 'anguilla in umido'?"

Sarah laughed quietly at his pronunciation. "It's stewed eel."

"Right." Chuck wrinkled his nose. "Won't be having any of that, thank you."

The song ended and the Dr.'s Awesome returned. "Hey, you made it. Good to see you again, Sarah," Honey said.

Chuck moved his menu away so Sarah could answer. "And you. How was your flight?"

"There were a few minor bumps along the way but nothing too detrimental."

The waiter came and they made their orders. Everyone had told Sarah what they wanted so she relayed the message and exchanged a few pleasantries with the man. Chuck could tell Sarah was working the poor guy even though he couldn't understand a word of it. He couldn't blame her, though. She was starving. And he couldn't blame the guy either. Sarah could cast a spell on the coldest of hearts, but it was if they could cast their spell on hers that mattered. And throughout her whole conversation with the man, she squeezed his hand letting him know that she was only trying to get their food to arrive quickly.

"I think somebody may have found themselves an admirer," Honey teased as the young waiter left.

"Oh, he's just a sweet kid. It's his father's restaurant and his first night serving."

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A man went up to the stage. He cleared his throat and tapped on the microphone lightly. The bp, bp sound made every patron direct their attention to the stage. "Good evening, ladies' and gentlemen. My name is Giulio Romano. Welcome to my restaurant," he said. "Tonight is the first night we are open for business so thank you for coming. I hope everything is to your liking. I have arranged for a special guest to play for you tonight. I've known this boy since he was a small child and his career is one to watch for. Without further ado, may I present, Gavin DeHaun." He started with the applause and the crowd followed.

Gavin went up the stairs and shook Guilio's hand. "Thanks, Guilio." He rearranged the microphone so it would be by his mouth as he sat at the piano bench. "He forgot to mention he was my godfather so he's forced to say nice things about me." A small murmur of laughter bubbled around the crowd as Gavin adjusted himself to be more comfortable on the bench. He played a few chords on the piano and then smiled out at the crowd. "Wow, nice piano. Uh, thank you all for coming this evening. Guilio asked me to play lots of Sinatra so I hope you don't mind going old school for a bit. Feel free to sing along or come up and dance, whatever tickles your fancy. If nothing else, enjoy. There is a bowl up here for requests, if there's anything you'd like to hear and as long as I can play it, I will. Before I begin, though, there was a slight mishap with my drummer so I'd like to invite an old friend up to play. I used to be in a band with this guy and he has some mad skills when it comes to the drums." He turned behind him to look at Morgan's table. "What do you say, Morgan? Think you can keep up?"

He looked at his mom who gave him a small nod and Morgan smiled. "Hell, yeah, I can," he said and rushed the stage. Morgan sat on the stool and picked up the sticks, twirling them around his fingers and pressing the peddle for the base drum a couple times. He looked like a hid in a candy store. "What are we starting with?"

"Everyone good with Fly Me to the Moon?" Gavin asked looking at his band and around the restaurant. A few claps and nods later and the music began.

She leaned over to Chuck and whispered, "So, is that the Gavin?"

"That's Gavin. Bet Carina's here around here somewhere." Chuck looked around the dining room looking for that flash of red hair and an air of playfulness that just oozed Carina. He found her sitting at a table with the owner and Gavin's manager. _Of course._

As if knowing that she was being watched, Carina flashed a smile at Chuck and Sarah. Within seconds, Sarah's phone buzzed. She pulled it out of her clutch purse and looked down to see she had a message.

_Better be careful. He might try to get your boy-toy up there too. ;) Don't think I don't know you've been holding out on me._

Sarah shook her head as she sent a response and then tucked her phone away. As the middle portion came, Morgan started to play more than just the beat and Sarah's eyes widened with surprise. "Wow, Morgan's really good."

"I know," Ellie agreed. "It was probably the one thing he did that didn't annoy me."

"Except for when he tried to serenade you with them at the talent show," Chuck said.

Ellie grimaced, "Oh, yeah, there would be that exception."

Without anyone realizing, John and Grace came to sit at the table. Casey sat next to Chuck and let Grace have the head of the table. Noticing their arrival, everyone waived but went back to watching the show. Casey leaned down and grumbled, "What's the bearded moron doing up there?"

The music hit a crescendo at the end and the crowd clapped in approval. Morgan's mom was standing, cheering excitedly.

"Morgan Grimes, Ladies and Gentlemen."

Chuck spoke up so he could be heard, "Playing the drums. The guy playing the piano and Morgan used to be in a band together in high school."

"Hm." _Kid's pretty good._

The waiter brought the food to the table setting everything where it should be. There were no spills and no mistakes. Sarah smiled and offered praise and thanks. As he left, Sarah's shoulders dropped and she whispered to herself, "Oh my, god. Finally."

Chuck heard and held back a laugh. As he cut off a piece of his chicken parmesan he leaned over to Casey and said, "By the way, Carina's here. She's fake dating Gavin because her assignment is to get evidence against his manager, Richard. He's suspected of being involved with the Columbian Drug Cartel."

Casey nodded and bit into his pasta. He didn't care that Carina was here. She wouldn't be able to convince him to drop to his drawers and get cuffed to the bed. Twice was enough for that. Besides, he wasn't interested anyway. Not anymore.

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The night had been going well. Chuck enjoyed seeing Casey with Grace again. Ellie was right, they were cute together. It was funny watching them dance. Grace stumbled and laughed at herself a few times but Casey never let her fall. He'd swear he saw Casey smile. Morgan was having fun on stage and his mom was amusing to watch. There'd been a few breaks for the band so they could eat and rest and that's when everyone made small talk.

Gavin pulled out the next request from the bowl and let out a laugh. "Oh this is classic. Okay, so, this song," he lifted up the small piece of paper, "I know how to play this song, but I've gotta tell you, I don't play it nearly as well as my dear friend, Charles Bartowski, who just so happens to be with us tonight."

Chuck's head shot to the stage when he heard his name. He started waiving his hands in front of him, shaking his head and repeatedly saying no.

"Come on up here, Chuck."

Suddenly a spotlight appeared on him and Sarah leaned away. He started making slicing motions across his neck.

"Let me tell you a little about this guy-"

"Oh, no," Chuck said bowing his head to the table, praying for the attention to stop.

"-this guy- if you've enjoyed hearing me play tonight, you'll _love_ hearing him play. For me, the piano was a learned skill, something I practiced to get good at. But for Chuck, it was a gift- raw natural talent at its best." He directed his attention to the spotlight, "Come on, Buddy, I know you said you've lost your mojo but take a chance that it's not all gone."

"No, really," Chuck said loud enough to carry to the stage, "it's fine. I'm quite alright."

"Seriously, Chuck, it's just one song," Gavin pushed.

"Go on, Chuck," Devon encouraged quietly. It'd been a long time since he'd heard Chuck play and he wouldn't mind hearing it again. "I don't think he's gonna stop."

"Yeah, Chuck, go," Stephen said, just as eager to see it. "You can do it."

"Guys, I can't. I haven't played in years."

Gavin raised a hand in the air and started chanting, "Chuck, Chuck, Chuck, Chuck," and the crowd joined in.

Chuck looked at the people around the table hoping for someone to be on his side. Sarah didn't side one way or the other but did rub his back in a comforting fashion. Personally she wanted to hear him play, live, but he was her boyfriend, so she didn't say anything. Seeing as people only seemed to want him play, Chuck shook his head and sighed in defeat. Against his better senses, he stood up and dragged his feet to the stage and up the stairs.

Gavin stood off to the side of the bench and clapped. Chuck sat down in his place still shaking his head, repeatedly wondering what he got himself into. Gavin slapped his hands against Chuck's shoulders and showed him the slip of paper. "Oh, god," he said, the microphone barely picking it up. They exchanged a few whispers before Gavin's voice crackled through the speakers.

"Okay, then play a few notes and see if you've still got it."

Chuck's eyes narrowed at Gavin and he started playing. He knew he could still play because on nights when he closed the Buy More, he'd wait until everyone was gone and then mess around on the keyboards. He preferred an actual piano but it was still a good time and he liked that people thought he didn't play anymore.

Sarah laughed the moment she realized he was playing the Super Mario Brothers song. It was such a Chuck thing to do.

"Oh, yes, he's still got it!" Gavin said. "What's with you saying you lost your mojo, dude?" Chuck said things that went unheard but Sarah could see him shaking his head and pointing at the slip of paper and then Gavin said, "Oh, fine, fine. But play something serious." He put the mic back in the stand and moved off to the side.

Chuck cleared his throat nervously and fixed the mic to be comfortable for him. "Alright," he said, "Something serious . . . okay, I've got one. This one I'm dedicating to my sister, Ellie, and her fiancé, Captain Awesome, both of whom by definition show me every day what it means to love unconditionally. So here's to you. May you both have all the happiness in marriage and in life that you deserve. And I hope you remember this because it should hold sentimental value for you." Chuck played a few jazzy chords, disguising the song while he tried to remember the words. His heart was beating ferociously against his chest and he was afraid he might hyperventilate. The good thing about this song was that it was short. He closed his eyes and took a deep, shaky breath and started to sing, hoping the right words would come out, "I'm wanna make you smile, whenever you're sad. Carry you around when your arthritis is bad, oh all I wanna do, is grow old with you."

Ellie and Devon started to laugh knowing exactly the moment Chuck was talking about. It was the song of their first dance. Shortly after Chuck had been kicked out of Stanford, Devon had a date planned with Ellie to go see a movie in the park. Ellie, not knowing that it would be a romantic comedy, convinced Devon to let Chuck come along. It just so happened to be the Wedding Singer and no matter how sad Chuck had been at the time, that date was when he knew Devon would pop the question to his sister. Devon, with his trademark grin in place, took Ellie by the hand and led her out to the dance floor.

Chuck's voice started softly but when no one booed, he built up more confidence. "I'll get your medicine when your tummy aches. Build you a fire if the furnace breaks. Oh, it could be so nice growin' old with you."

"I'll miss you, kiss you. Give you my coat when you are cold. Need you, feed you. I'll even let you hold the remote control." Chuck looked down to his fingers with a smile and gave them nice long instrumental break so they could have a few more turns around the dance floor, adding an improvised flare that the song didn't usually have.

"So let me do the dishes in our kitchen sink. Put you to bed when you've had too much to drink. Oh I could be the man who grows old with you. I wanna grow old with you." Chuck finished with a relived breath, glad that it was over. The crowd applauded, even Casey joined in. Sarah's bright smile was all he needed to relax. With a sheepish smile he shrugged, "Sorry it wasn't the most technically advanced song but I hope you liked it," and then he fled from the stage.

"See, that wasn't so bad, Chuck," Gavin said resuming the bench.

Sarah stood and gave him a hug before he could sit down. "Great job, Chuck." She kissed his cheek and whispered just for him to hear, "Just saying, really pissed off we have people staying with us."

Chuck blushed as Sarah took a seat. Gavin and the band had decided on a song and started playing again and Chuck caught Ellie before she could sit, "Could I have this dance?"

Ellie smiled and took his hand, "Of course."

He led her in a simple box step around to the floor, watching out to make sure they didn't run into any other couples. He waited a few turns before he spoke. "Okay, so I have a confession. There's an ulterior motive for asking you to dance with me. I'm wondering if you might possibly want to do me a favor."

"After that, sure." Ellie never minded when he asked for favors because he hardly did so and they were never that complicated.

"Okay, so Sarah isn't quite ready to have a house full of people and something tells me she's a bit uncomfortable around Dad. I'm not sure why but I don't want to push it and I kind of want to give her a breather before heading home. Do you think you'd be able to let people in the apartment and I could steal Sarah away for a surprise?"

"Seriously? That's your favor?" Chuck nodded. "Piece of cake. I've got you covered."

"Thanks, Ellie," he said, spinning her out and then pulling her back in. "I really do have the most awesome sister in the world."

Ellie rolled her eyes goodheartedly. "It wasn't like it was a difficult favor to ask."

Chuck dipped her as the last chords to the song played out. "Even still." He set her back upright and they clapped as they walked back to the table. "Sarah."

She turned and looked up at him, eager. "Is it my turn for a dance now?"

"Actually, I was hoping I could whisk you away for the rest of the evening. I have a surprise."

Sarah's eyes narrowed. "A surprise?"

"Uh huh."

"I hate surprises."

Chuck rolled his eyes. "I know. But you'll like this one."

Sarah sighed as if it were the end of the world. "Fine, I'll go get my coat," she said, holding out her hand for the ticket.

He gave it to her and said, "I'll be right there." He started to pull out his wallet to put money on the table for their meals when Woody stopped him.

"What are you doing?"

"Paying?"

Honey pushed his hand away. "This meal is on us. Don't you worry about anything, especially since we are staying with you this weekend."

"Thanks, Dr. Woodcomb."

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After a bit of coercing, Chuck managed to get Sarah to agree to being blindfolded on the way to his surprise. It also gave him another opportunity to drive her Porsche. As he pulled into a parking stall he turned to Sarah. "Okay, I'm going to put my earphones on for you because, otherwise, you'd know exactly where we are and I need a second to setup."

"Is this a really elaborate surprise? I mean, how long are we talking here? I don't like being blindfolded."

"Ten minutes. Two, possibly three songs and I'll be back. Promise." He put on the music for her and got out of the car. He opened the trunk and took off his shoes and socks and rolled his pant legs up to the middle of his shins, grabbing the things he needed and setting out for his plan.

Sarah waited in the car. She was half tempted to peek but a larger part of her wanted to be surprised. If he'd gone to all this effort, she didn't want to ruin it. Two and a half songs later, her door was opened. The spy in her made her reach for the knives in her thigh sheath. "Chuck?"

The headphones where pulled out of her ears and he said, "Yeah, it's me. Kick off your shoes."

He sounded a little out of breath. She did as he asked. "Can I take the blindfold off now?"

"Nope. Not yet," he said. Since it was a bit chillier than he anticipated, he took of his jacket and put it around her. "It's kinda windy out, so this should help keep you warm. Wrap your arms around my neck."

"Why?"

"Well, I'm not gonna make you walk barefoot there. You might step on something." He slid one arm up under her knees, being sure to trap her dress so the wind wouldn't blow up it as much. With much more strength than she knew he possessed, he lifted her out of the car and used his hip to shut the door. The keys were already in his hand and he locked the doors.

"Have you been working out?"

He adjusted his grip and started down the sand, huffing through the effort but doing his best not to show it. She wasn't heavy by any means but rushing through the setup had left him short of breath. "Maybe a little."

"Hmm, I like it." By now, Sarah could hear the waves and smell the ocean. "The beach, huh?" she asked as he set her down, the sand cool between her toes. "Is that your big surprise?"

Chuck laughed and started to untie his tie from around her eyes. "No. This is."

Sarah blinked a few times, adjusting to being able to see again. When things became clear, what she saw made her take a quick breath in. They were at their spot on the beach. He'd laid out a blanket with one piece of cake off to the side in a plastic container. A second blanket was folded neatly in the corner and he'd lit candles around the blanket but only one was still burning. "Chuck-"

"They were all lit at one point," he shrugged, "but I guess candles don't like sea breezes."

"But-" her head shook as she tried to comprehend the man in front of her, "why?"

"Well, I know you like your alone time and you haven't gotten much of that in the past couple weeks so I wanted to do something special for you. So, enjoy your piece of cake. Take as long as you need. I'll wait in the car."

Dumbfounded didn't begin to explain what she was feeling. She couldn't find words . . . He smiled and started to walk away when she didn't speak but she grabbed his wrist to make him stop. "You know wanna know a secret, Chuck?"

He stood completely still, unsure of what to do. When Sarah licked her lips and stepped in closer, his arms automatically went around her waist as hers went to his neck. He didn't say anything, choosing to take her lead.

One hand came around to caress his cheek and she gnawed on her lower lip anxiously. She looked him in the eye, almost shyly, and said, "I've always wanted to make love on a beach."

Chuck eyes widened and he swallowed nervously, "I- I didn't do this for that-"

Sarah nodded. "I know." And she did. Anyone else and she'd think it a ploy. "Which just makes it all the more special." There was silence for a long moment before Sarah spoke again, "It kind of seems fitting; like we'd be taking it back to where it all began and making it how it should have been all along."

Chuck closed his eyes, trying to keep his senses. He'd never made love in a public place before. Anyone could walk up on them or they could be arrested. And yet he couldn't find it in himself to resist her. He looked up the beach and then down the beach verifying there wasn't a soul around. There was nothing but the contrasting colors of the sky to sea, water to sand. Confident of their solitude, he made his move.

When he looked away, Sarah was sure he'd say no and she felt foolish for being so forward. She was about to step back and leave it how he wanted it to be but then his hand tightened around her back and he pulled her forcefully to him. His lips molding with hers blazed a fire straight to her core making her forget all about the chilled wind nipping at her skin. When the surprise wore off, she became an active participant as her hands began to wander. She shrugged out of their jackets as his hands slid down to her legs. A gentle tug up had her wrapping her legs around his waist and he knelt carefully to the blanket.

"It's a bit unconventional for a first time," Chuck said as he broke his lips away and started down her neck, sucking on her pulse point for a short moment before moving to her chest.

Sarah moaned in appreciation, threading her fingers through his hair. "Since when have we ever done things the way they were supposed to be done?" Her feet trailed down to his calves and slipped up his pant leg, the sand scratching against his skin. He pushed up her dress and lightly stroked from her stomach to the edge of her bra. She shuddered and started to tug his shirt out of his pants, almost desperate to feel his skin beneath her fingers.

"Fair point," Chuck said pushing back to his knees.

Sarah groaned her protest. _There's no way he could be stopping now._ "Chuck-"

"Just a second." He pulled his phone out of his pocket and made a show of pretending to throw it out to sea which made Sarah laugh. But then he just switched it off. He knew her phone was in her clutch and that was still in the car. _Thank god._ "Absolutely no interruptions this time."

Sarah smiled and pulled him to her by the shirt, reconnecting their lips once again. So tonight was a little unconventional.

That didn't mean it wasn't perfect.

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spcr71- that last section was just for you. I hadn't intended for it to happen at that moment but you got me to thinkin'. I've never in my life ever written anything like that so I hope it didn't disappoint.

A/N2: Thanks for reading everyone! Please leave a review if you feel up to it =)


	28. Chapter 28

A/N: Hey all. I'm so sorry about the delay. I was watching over a bunch of family members that had medical things come up, but all is okay now so no worries =) The second half of the chapter gave me quite a few issues as to deciding if certain things should happen now but I'm pretty satisfied with how it turned out. There is a line in the beginning which, believe it or not, was written before vs Balcony and I thought about changing it, but meh, it's a good line. This chapter also has a call back to chapter 7 when they were painting their apartment. Thanks to all those who've read, reviewed, favorited, alerted, etc and so forth. You all make my day and I thank you. And thank you Bill for beta-ing =) Your help has been stupendous. (Seriously, I went over the first chapter and it stunk!)

Disclaimer: I don't own Chuck

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Chapter 28

Just before the first light of day, when the sky sat somewhere between a melancholy grey and blue, Sarah roused from her slumber. She stretched languidly and yawned, rubbing the sleep from the corners of her eyes. The cool sand beneath the sheet mixed with a passing gust of wind chilled her body. She rolled into the source of heat emanating from behind her.

"Good morning."

Sarah looked up to see her favorite color staring back at her, brightening the dim sky, and a smile blossomed across her face. _Yep, still at the beach._ She shivered again. _Definitely still naked._ _Thank god it wasn't just a dream!_ She never thought it was but the reaffirmation that it wasn't had been most welcomed. "Good morning," she said cheerfully, scooting to her stomach and propping herself up on her elbows. Chuck's eyes drifted to her breasts before snapping back up to her face and she laughed.

He blushed crimson and moved to his back so he could look at the sky. "Sorry."

Still smiling, Sarah leaned over him, making herself the only thing he could see and said quietly, "Don't be. I think it's sweet." She bent down and pressed her lips to his. He brought his hand up to her hair turning what was meant to be a chaste kiss into something more. Without warning, he flexed his fingers and switched their positions.

Sarah gave a silly laugh as she found herself on her back with Chuck above her. "Well this is familiar," she joked. He didn't say anything- just propped himself up on his elbows and looked at her, a smile playing at his lips. With the moments passing in silence, she felt herself becoming a bit timid and shy, emotions she'd thought had been drained out of her over the years. He stared at her with such a fierce adoration, it was slightly unnerving. Her fingertips brushed lightly against his triceps hoping to break his concentration.

Chuck allowed his eyes to caress her face, watching every minuscule change in her expression. As he felt her anxiety build, he spoke softly, "You are without a doubt the most beautiful sight I've ever seen." His voice was barely more than a whisper. Anything louder would have seemed out of place as the tranquility of the moment was something to be cherished.

Sarah felt the blush break out over her whole body and couldn't fight the smile racing across her face.

"Now, I can't say that I blame you, son- that's a mighty fine lookin' woman you've got there- but this here's a family beach. You best be taking those activities indoors."

The voice, infused with an out of place southern drawl, came from above them. Chuck looked up to see an officer standing with his hands on his hips, a smirk on lips and a teasing glint in his eye. It was now Chuck's turn to redden with embarrassment as Sarah's eyes widened. He hid his face in the crook of her neck for a second feeling her shoulders shake with silent laughter. Looking up again, he stuttered for a response. "Uh- um- o, uh, okay." Sarah's head curled into his chest and she had to put a hand over her mouth to keep the laughter in. "S-sorry, Officer."

The officer laughed and turned on his heel to leave. "Don' lemme cetch ya out here again. I may not be so nice next time." After years of patrolling the beach, he could usually tell who the first timer's were and since it seemed like these two were actually in a relationship and not having just a one time thing, he chose to give them the benefit of doubt.

He waived awkwardly at the retreating man. "Okay, I promise." He waited until the man was a respectable distance away before moving off of Sarah.

Taking that as her cue to let out her semi-contained laughter, she made sure the blanket covered the important parts as she sat up to watch Chuck fish around for his boxers. He found them and wiggled them on under the blanket which made her laugh harder. She fell backwards and rolled toward him to her side, taking the blanket with her.

Chuck sat up and leaned back on his hands, still flushed with embarrassment as he looked down at Sarah's laughing form. "I fail to share in your amusement," he said dryly.

She looked up at him, merriment dancing through her eyes. "Oh come on, Chuck. That was funny." Her head dropped back when he gave her an unamused eye roll. _How could he not find this funny? He hates PDA and we totally just got caught like two teenagers making out on a couch. _Perhaps, because she'd never had that experience before, that's why she found it so comical.

He could see her throat move with each breath that escaped. He shook his head as he looked away, smiling. Okay, so it _was_ kind of funny. With a snort, he grabbed Sarah's bra and underwear to give to her and then threw on his under shirt. The sun made its entrance as he knelt on the sand, picking up her dress with a frown. He wasn't sure how he'd managed it but last night he'd gotten it snagged on one of her knives when he took it off. On the ground beneath the dress was her sheath. _Good thing her dress was covering that or we might have had a lot more question to answer._ He looked sheepishly at Sarah and apologized, "I'm sorry about your dress."

Her laughter was over though she remained highly amused yet vaguely mortified by the experience. She shrugged as she took his grey button down and shook out the sand, "Anh, that's okay. I kinda like it when you're impatient."

Instead of handing it over like he thought she was going to do, she slipped her arms through the sleeves and started buttoning it up. He swallowed, mesmerized by the movement of her nimble fingers, too distracted to inform her that she had been just as impatient. "That is _suuuch_ a fantastic look for you."

Sarah looked at him with a large grin and said, "Thanks." She left the top two buttons undone and set to work on rolling the sleeves. When one was done and she could still feel his stare, she raised her brow with a smirk, "You gonna put your pants on?"

"Right!" he said loudly shaking himself from his daze, "Right, yeah, sorry. Tha- that's what I wa- hmhmm-"

Finished with the other sleeve, she crawled over to him on all fours and interrupted his stutter with a kiss. The cop whistled loudly, as one would do at a baseball game, and shouted something they couldn't hear but it was enough to prevent it from turning into anything else. And just like that, Sarah was laughing again as she pulled away. Knowing they were still being watched, she hid her knives in her dress and gathered up one of the sheets. Chuck made sure he had everything and then gathered up the bottom sheet.

As Sarah put their jackets over the top of her pile she saw the untouched container with the cake in it. "Aw, Chuck, we didn't get to eat the cake," she said somewhat disappointedly.

Chuck looked up and saw her holding the container. "We could always give it to the cop," he said as he pushed to a standing position. He picked up Sarah's pile and held out his hand to her.

"I thought they like donuts?" Sarah asked with feigned puzzlement as she threaded her fingers through his.

He pulled her to her feet and they walked hand in hand back to her car. "Ooo, and she throws out a stereotype." He teased, "Better be careful. I might start thinking all blonds are shinning lighthouses in bays of stupidity."

Sarah groaned, "Ugh, I'm never gonna live that down, am I?"

Chuck let go of her hand to open the trunk and started to drop his load. "Not for at least the next fifty years."

Sarah's eyes widened at the innocent statement. Panic bubble in her stomach leaving her infinitely grateful he wasn't looking at her. Marriage wasn't exactly something they'd discussed before- what, with their relationship being a few days old and only a cover before that- but the idea wasn't unappealing, which probably shocked her more than anything else. It was just too soon to be brought up. Way too soon. She swallowed and muttered, "Okay, then," before heading toward the officer. Hopefully that distraction would prevent her from over thinking it too much.

Chuck, on the other hand, was just as surprised he'd said it. _You are such a dolt. What were you thinking? You can't say things like that. _It was way too early in their actual relationship to even hint at such a thing as marriage. He sat on the open trunk to put on his shoes and socks, beating the sand off his feet. When he looked back he found a pair of cutoff jeans along with her orange converse shoes and pulled them out before shutting the trunk. His eyes sought out Sarah, finding her talking to the police officer. She was handing him the plastic container with the cake in it. He watched them exchange a few words with a smile. Then, Sarah lifted up to give the man a kiss on his cheek, waiving at the officer as she walked back his way. Deciding that it would be best to ignore his comment, he waited until she was close enough and handed over her shorts and dropped the shoes in front of her feet. "That was nice of you." He hooked the keys on his finger for her to take when she was ready.

Sarah smiled at his considerateness. "Well," she began as she slipped on the shorts and wiggled her feet into her shoes, "he did let us off the hook." She was grateful he didn't seem to be interested in dwelling on anything said before she walked away. It would have to be addressed eventually. But eventually was eventually and definitely not now. Finished dressing, she took the keys away from him and went to the driver side door.

"That he did," he said, jumping ahead of her so he could open her door for her. "Milady." He flourished his hand, grateful that no uneasiness seemed to be lingering. It appeared he'd made the right choice, though ignorance wouldn't make the issue go away. Even if marriage wasn't something she wanted- which he'd be okay with- he'd like to know before making a complete fool out of himself by doing something stupid like asking just to get shot down.

"Thank you." She pecked his lips and got in. She flipped open her visor so she could look in the mirror. It'd been to her benefit that she'd put her makeup on later in the day so it didn't look too awful now. She brushed her fingers through her hair and took a hair tie from her center consol to put it up. As Chuck was getting in the car, she was finishing up putting chapstick on and flipped her visor up.

"So, you up for some breakfast?"

..-. .- - .. .-.. -.- - .- - - . .-. … … - - .-.

The chime of the door alerted Grace to their first customers of the day. She saw the couple enter and took in their appearance, surprised to realize she knew them. Sarah was wearing Chuck's shirt from last night and Chuck was still in his slacks. It didn't take a genius to figure out what that meant. She shook her head and walked up to the couple. "Late night?" she teased with a knowing twinkle in her eye.

Chuck blushed and buried his head into the menu which made Sarah laugh. She looked proudly up at Grace and said, "You could say that."

Grace laughed with the acknowledgement. "Wow, okay. Good for you guys." She cleared her throat and tapped her pen on the pad out of habit. Truth be told, she hardly ever used the thing anyway, but it was a way to get the conversation back on track. "What can I get you to drink?"

"I'm good with water, thanks," Chuck said.

"Orange juice, please."

"Coming right up." Grace walked away, her head shaking with amusement. There were a mere handful of times in her life when she'd come across people who just had that connection, like they'd been together lifetimes over, a fine in tuned-ness that made people believe in soul mates. It'd be completely disgusting if it wasn't so freaking adorable.

Shortly after Grace left, Chuck made his decision and set down the menu. He pulled his phone from his pocket, realizing he hadn't turned it back on yet. It'd barely been on for a second before it started ringing. "Well, it's a good thing I had this turned off last night," he said and Sarah smiled without breaking her concentration on her menu. "Hey, Devon, what's up?"

"_Dude, where are you? Ellie's freaking out. My parents said you didn't come home last night. And you guys haven't answered your phones."_

Chuck rolled his eyes. "Everything's fine. Sarah and I went to the beach," he felt the blush rising up his cheeks and had to clear his throat before continuing in a relatively awkward fashion, "and now we are having breakfast."

"_You were at the beach?. . . All night? With Sarah? . . . why, Chuck, you little devil."_

Chuck found himself rolling his eyes yet again. Of course Devon would piece it together. Well, if Sarah was having fun with this, then why not? "Sometimes." Sarah looked at him over her menu with a quirked eyebrow. "But it was worth it." He smiled at her was wiggled his eyebrows. "So, so worth it." Devon's classic bellow of a laugh followed and Chuck had to pull the phone away from his ear for a second.

"_Awesome! Wait . . . so that your guys' first time then?"_

"I . . . will not be dignifying that with a response," Chuck said causing Devon to chuckle again but not as loudly.

"_Congrats, Bro. Finally got your bike out for a ride. I'll tell Ellie to stop freaking out. You even had me going for a minute there, too, all things considered. But I'm glad everything's okay."_

"Yep, everything's great." Desperate to get the conversation off his love life, he changed the subject, "What's going on over there?"

"_We were just about to head out on a run with the fam. Hey, since my brother's are in town, you want us to swing by the storage unit and bring home the piano?"_

"Whatever floats your boat, Devon."

"_Right. Well, I must have caught you at a good time then because we were sure you'd be less than enthused about the idea."_

"Then we'd better end this conversation before I change my mind."

"_Later, Bro."_

"See ya, Awesome."

..-. .- - .. .-.. -.- - .- - - . .-. … … - - .-.

Devon hung up the phone with a laugh. Chuck sounded a lot more relaxed than he'd been in a while. _Things must be going pretty good with the lady._ Thank goodness they hadn't been captured or something. That would have been decidedly un-awesome. Sex was a much better reason. He walked back to his apartment, shaking his head. "Hey, Babe? You almost ready?"

"Did you get a hold of Chuck?" Ellie asked, her head stuck in the refrigerator. She wasn't worried per se- he was, after all, an adult- but she preferred to know he was alright before heading out for a run.

"Indeed I did. They were at the beach."

His statement eased more worry than she'd thought she'd been carrying though her brow wrinkled with confusion as she shut the fridge door, two bottles of water in hand.. "All night?" Devon nodded with a smirk and her eyes widened. Ellie's jaw dropped, astonished. "They didn't?"

Devon's smile grew. "They did."

"Wow." She threw one of the bottles at him which he caught easily before narrowing her eyes questioningly, "He actually told you that?"

"Well, not in so many words but the implication was there."

Ellie shook her head somewhat uncomfortable and yet proud at the same time. "Who knew my brother had it in him?"

"Who knew?" Devon said as they went to meet his family at the car.

They all piled in. It was a tight fit but the park wasn't that far. Devon told them Chuck said it would be okay to pickup the piano so they decided they'd run for a bit and then rent a trailer to take it home. Trevor knew how to ride a motorcycle so he'd follow them back to the apartment and they'd park it there for the time being. That way, Ellie could close out the storage unit, since it was in her name, and Chuck wouldn't have to pay for it anymore.

When it was all said and done, the piano was back at the newly dubbed Casa Bartowski- as her place was now to be called Casa Woodcomb- they'd all showered, changed, and had breakfast and it was barely hitting ten thirty. Devon went to spend some time with his family while she was going to have a father-daughter day, the first she could ever remember having since she was seven. She kissed Devon goodbye and went back to her place to wait for her dad to arrive.

..-. .- - .. .-.. -.- - .- - - . .-. … … - - .-.

Diane finished packing her bag for the flight home. Casey would be over in a bit to take her to the airport. She was quite ready to get back now that she knew everything was settled with her family. And even if she hadn't known, she would have persisted however it was much easier knowing things looked promising. For now, there was only one thing left to take care of before she left: advising Ellie of their interest in recruiting her as the doctor for the Intersect project. As she set her bag by the door, Ellie entered.

"Diane, hey," Ellie said.

"Good morning, Ellie."

She couldn't help but eye the older woman's bag with sadness. "Would you like some coffee before you go?"

"I'd love some, thank you."

Ellie moved around the kitchen, gathering what she needed, while Diane took a seat at the bar. "Are you sure you can't stay for the wedding?" she asked. Ever since Diane had been staying with them, Ellie had come to think of Diane as a sort of surrogate mother. While she understood why Diane had to go, it saddened her to think that Diane wouldn't be around for such an important day.

Diane smiled softly. Between Trisha, Eve, and Ellie, in the short time she'd been here, she had started to feel like a mother again- something she hadn't realize she'd missed so much since David died. As much as she wanted to be at the wedding, there was just too much to be done with the new Intersect coming online. "I'm afraid not, dear. I've done as much as I can from a distance but certain things need to be completed from Washington."

Ellie nodded sadly. "I understand," she said putting the mug down in front of Diane.

She reached out and put her hand atop Ellie's. "I'll be back for Eve's transplant and you can tell me all about it then."

Ellie's lips curled up at the ends momentarily. "Okay." She felt a little foolish for having been so obvious with her disappointment but grateful that Diane understood. "The room's available if you'd like to stay."

Diane smiled cordially. "Thank you," she said. She took a sip of her coffee and waited for a moment before switching topics. "Eleanor, before I go, I have something I'd like to discuss with you."

"Sure." Ellie was slightly taken aback at the use of her full name. Aside from the first little while, Diane had only ever called her Ellie. With a slightly furrowed brow, she asked, "Is everything alright?"

"Yes, everything's fine," she said. "It's come to my attention that you've recently submitted an application for a neurology fellowship."

Her furrow deepened with curiosity, "Yeah, with USC. How did you know about that? I haven't even told Chuck yet."

Diane was surprised Ellie said she hadn't told Chuck. He more than knew about it but that wasn't what she needed to find out so she kept on track. "You're credentials have been brought to my attention by the committee choosing the fellowship recipient."

"Ookay?"

"Ellie, we'd like to recruit you to lead an investigation as to the affects of subliminal imaging on the human brain."

Ellie gave a bewildered laugh, "Wow, um-" She paused and waited for Diane to say something like 'gotcha.'_ Sounds like something straight out of one of those sci-fi movies Chuck watches._ Diane remained silent, a stony expression on her face. Ellie's eyes widened in shock, realizing it wasn't a joke. She stared at the General thinking of what to say. "Oh, ah, I mean- even if that were possible, why is the Government interested in that?"

"Unfortunately, I can't explain much about the project other than what's already been stated. But," she went to her suitcase and opened the front zipper, pulling out a manila envelope, "this has all the information as far as benefits, grants and so forth. There'd be two people in your charge, though one more so than the other." _Just because Chuck's part will be done with doesn't mean we don't have an obligation to verify his health._

"You mean someone already _has_ this?" she questioned, taking the envelope from Diane. Ellie was shaken from her confusion by the door opening. Diane slowly turned around to see who entered. "Dad-"

"Beckman."

"Orion?"

..-. .- - .. .-.. -.- - .- - - . .-. … … - - .-.

Casey, Beckman, Stephen, and Ellie sat in the conference room of Castle. Ellie's brain was reeling from all the information she'd taken in. This project they wanted her for was the birth-child of her father's imagination. And not only that, it worked. Well, sort of- as long as you had the right mind to be able to access it, the mind her brother had. And with further research they were hoping to be able to broaden that.

Unfortunately, she was having a difficult time focusing on the project and what her role would be; her primary focus remained on Chuck's involvement. Chuck was this spy-ish-asset-person for the government and hadn't told her? And Casey and Sarah were his handlers? Nothing was real?

". . . you should have reassigned her a long time ago- you even had the chance not too long ago- but no. You heartless people forced my son into being with a complete farce of a human being-"

"Enough!" Beckman interrupted with a tone that made her appear much larger than she was. She stood at the head of the table and advanced on Orion. "That's enough. If it weren't for Agent Walker, your son would have been in a bunker a _long_ time. It is because of her and Colonel Casey that your son is safe."

"I could keep him safe."

"By running? Look at you," Beckman stepped back appraisingly, "More than a decade on the run and you're suspicious of everything, you don't trust anyone, and you lack a significant amount of decorum when interacting with others. We could have helped you, Mr. Bartowski. You didn't have to go it alone."

"Your help would have involved a bullet," he said icily.

"Dad!" Ellie interrupted sharply before Diane could retort. "Why are you always so insistent that your way is the right way? Sometimes you don't know what's best."

"Leaving you was the best way to keep you safe."

A fury of resentment burst through Ellie. "Was it? Was it? Do you have any idea what I went through just to keep Chuck and me together? How much I lied to keep him with me? What we sacrificed?"

"It was the only way I knew how to protect you."

"But you never even consider the alternative, did you? You were so sure your help would have been a bullet you didn't stop to think about us at all. God, Dad, we worked so hard just to put food on the table, to keep the roof over our heads from collapsing in on us. It's a miracle we got anywhere in life. Did you know we were the only kids in school who didn't have _one_ parent show up to our graduation? And we were the valedictorians. You missed everything, Dad. Everything. How could you leave us after mom left?"

Stephen hung his head dejectedly having no response other than the one he'd already given.

Ellie scoffed and shook her head. She hadn't really expected an answer. No answer would have been sufficient enough but at least now she had a somewhat legitimate reason that he'd left. She looked to the woman at the head of the table and exhaled resolutely. "If it means keeping Chuck safe, General Beckman, I accept."

Stephen hit the table and stood, "No, Ellie! I have what he needs to get it out. I just need more time to finish it. It's almost done. You don't have to get involved too."

"Well, that may be," Ellie said choppily, trying to keep her emotions in check, "but it's not ready now. I have no data to go off of except the logical rationale that having that amount of information put into your brain and accessing it by having these . . . _flashes_ or whatever must be at least a little damaging. Chuck needs to be checked out. He _has_ to be okay."

"Ellie-"

"You made me promise. I keep my promises." This all seemed so crazy. She was terrified for her brother. She wiped furiously at an angry tear running down her face. "I need to talk to Chuck. Now."

..-. .- - .. .-.. -.- - .- - - . .-. … … - - .-.

Chuck and Sarah rushed to Castle after they got the call from General Beckman. He was so nervous his whole body shook. Ellie must be so mad. This was part of what he'd been afraid of when Beckman pitched the idea. He knew things had been kind of strained between them for the past couple years but he'd held out a hope that he'd get the Intersect out before Ellie ever found out about anything. Then he could just forget it ever happened and move on. She would never have to know. But now he didn't have that choice. He took a settling breath, jumping when Sarah took his hand.

"You gonna be okay?" she asked.

He swallowed anxiously. "Um . . . well, I don't think she'll kill me." He tried to will his body into moving forward to the conference room but it wouldn't budge. It didn't matter though since it seemed their voices were over-heard and Ellie came around the corner, arms crossed with an unreadable expression.

Ellie looked down to their joined hands and then looked up at them both. "You can drop the act. I know." As Chuck was about to open his mouth to protest, she cut him off with a raised hand. "Save it." She didn't want to hear anymore lies. Her brother wasn't supposed to be capable of lying. "I want to speak to Chuck. _Alone._"

Sarah exhaled and squeezed Chuck's hand giving him one last look of support before she left to join Casey and Beckman. Her eyes narrowed questioningly at Chuck's dad being there too. _Why is he here?_ She looked to Casey for an answer but he just gave a small shake of his head as if saying they'd get to it.

Chuck watched Sarah go before turning apprehensively to his sister. "Ellie-"

"Why didn't you tell me, Chuck?"

"I wanted to, believe me. Since the very first day I've wanted to. So much. But I had to protect you."

"Protect me? Like you did with Devon's bachelor party?"

"That's not wha-"

"I'm so sick of people trying to protect me. Just tell me what is going on." Ellie took a breath to control her on going frustration, bringing her hands up to her temples momentarily. "God, Chuck, it's like I don't even know you anymore."

"I'm sorry, Ellie." Chuck looked down to his feet. "I didn't want to worry you. I didn't want you to be responsible. Not for this." He met her eyes again. "You've done so much for me, El. You've raised me and the thought of putting you in danger . . . I just- I couldn't do it."

"You should have trusted me."

He nodded, "I know."

"How can I believe you anymore? I mean, were you really having sex on the beach with Sarah last night or was that another lie you told so you could go on a mission?"

Ellie and Chuck's conversation wasn't exactly private with Sarah, Beckman, Casey and Stephen in the next room. Three sets of eyes turned to Sarah before she had the chance to cover the shock. _Okay,_ _wow. So she's not one to beat around the bush then. Ellie just went for it, didn't she? _

Casey groaned, "Ugh, really, Walker?"

Chuck's jaw dropped, knowing the others could hear. Casey's telltale grumbled assured him of that. The red tinge crawled up his face explaining everything to Ellie. He cleared his throat, searching for words to explain- words that would be diplomatic with an audience.

Despite everything, Ellie knew when she'd caught Chuck off guard. Subjects such as sex made it easy to unnerve him. Sure it was tactless but it was gratifying to know that he couldn't lie about everything. She wanted to smile but could only recall the things her father had said about the relationship being a cover. That topic wasn't something she wanted to get into with Chuck. Not yet. She'd save that for Sarah first. "Well, it doesn't matter. I'm going to help you."

"Can you get it out?" he asked hopeful.

A wave of relief rushed through Ellie as the words left his mouth. That being first thing he asked- knowing he didn't want it, knowing she hopefully wouldn't have to worry about his continued danger for much longer, eased her fear of loosing him too soon. "I don't know. Dad thinks he can. From what I gather this thing puts a lot of stress on your brain so I hope he can. But either way I can make sure you're safe. I can make sure you're healthy."

"What do you mean Dad thinks he can? Dad's here?" He tried to look beyond her to see if their dad was there. _Why would he be here?_

"I don't know," she said, exasperated. A lot of the terminology had gone over her head since she wasn't actively listening to the explanation. "I guess he helped build it in the first place so he thinks he can make some sort of computer program that can reverse it."

"Oh my god." Understanding and confusion rolled through him at the only feasible explanation. "Dad's Orion? But that's not possible. I watched him explode."

"What?"

"I was- we were going to meet. He was going to help me get the Intersect out but he was captured. And his helicopter exploded before I could reprogram the drone."

"I faked it," Stephen said coming around the corner. "How else do you think I've managed to evade everything for this long? As long as people think I'm dead, it's easier to see you guys before the shit hits the fan."

"You think they're going to find out that you're still alive?"

He nodded gravely. "They always do."

"What are you gonna do?" Ellie asked, worry evident in her tone.

"Same thing as always- run and try to stay one step ahead of them. But this time I'll keep in touch, I promise. I'll show you how to get a hold of me if you need me."

Chuck and Ellie nodded sadly. It would be better than the nothing they've had for more than a decade. "Well, this probably isn't the time to bring this up but the day before yesterday I flashed on your codename and passed out. It was like I was in the hardware of the Intersect-"

"You probably were." Stephen nodded. "Do you remember when you were a boy and you went into my workshop? Your curiosity got the better of you and you pressed enter on my computer. Do you remember?"

"Yeah, and you said I was special. So I made you think up the Intersect? This is my fault?"

"Not exactly, no. I came up with the idea of the Intersect; you just gave the idea for a human component. That was something we never thought about."

"But, then, how come I've never flashed before?"

"The files were empty with the exception of what would be considered the genetic makeup of the Intersect. The hardware. You only downloaded a prototype. Most likely- at least I hope- you passed out because it's buried under the actual Intersect and your memories for the better part of your life. But, Chuck, we have to get it out. Ellie's right. The more updates you get and the more flashes you have, it's too much stress. The constant surge of electricity can cause your brain to essentially short circuit which can lead to things like dementia and paranoia."

By now Beckman, Casey and Sarah joined the group as the conversation moved to work related territory. The last piece of information made Sarah's heart clench and Ellie gasp. Sarah folded her arms, slipping into the comfort of her Agent side. "But, he's going to be okay, right? He has to be okay."

"If we get it out."

Ellie studied Sarah carefully. She seemed genuinely frightened by the possibility that Chuck wouldn't be okay. Ellie sincerely hoped that Chuck and Sarah's relationship wasn't fake, though it being a cover certainly cleared up a lot of awkward moments they'd had in their relationship. Why it never seemed to go anywhere when it was so obvious that they loved each other. Why Sarah was less than open about anything.

Beckman sighed. This information was news to her. "What about the new Intersect? Should we not be bringing that one online?" No matter how much she wanted Larkin to suffer, it would be inhumane not to inform him of this new found evidence. Cruel and unusual punishment was Constitutionally not allowed under the Eighth Amendment. All personal feelings aside, as a leader in the United States Government, she would uphold the rights to its citizens.

"That's up to you, but I don't want my son to have any part of it. The little I do know about this new Intersect, it seems to house a lot more than just intelligence."

"Do you have anything I can look at, Dad?" Ellie asked. "No offense, but you're looking at this purely from the perspective of an engineer when there is another component. I don't want Chuck to have any part in this either but there might be something that can be done to smooth the way for this new person before it's too late."

"Sure. It's right over here." He led her to the conference room and pulled out his laptop.

Once Orion and Ellie were out of sight, Beckman looked to team. "I'll go contact Larkin. We have to advise him of this information before he commits to the download." She walked up the metal stairs, heels pinging with each step. "Looks like I'll be staying in Burbank for a while longer."

..-. .- - .. .-.. -.- - .- - - . .-. … … - - .-.

Ironically, Ellie's father-daughter day consisted of sitting in front of a computer- something he used to only do with Chuck. There were a few pieces of equipment that she needed to check on Chuck but she felt confident that they could fix the program for the new person. She didn't want to admit it, but the doctor in her was kind of excited about being involved in this project. It had the potential to be revolutionary which made her understand the appeal in the first place.

"Well, that's all we can do for now," Ellie said, stretching out her back. "Once Diane gets the equipment that I need, I can map Chuck's brain and hopefully get a baseline to start the research."

"Great. Just like when we were kids," Chuck said dryly. "I'll bet there is some sick sense of satisfaction in this for you."

Ellie smiled. "I'd be lying if I said there wasn't. I've always wanted to pick your brain and now I'll get paid to do it and you know that the cherry on top is? You can't cry to Mom when it takes too long."

Chuck hunched over and rested his chin on his folded forearms. "I knew it. I'm just a pawn to you," he said melodramatically.

Stephen chuckled as he closed his laptop. "It's good to know some things never changed between you two."

Chuck smiled tightly and sat back in his chair. "Well, I'm gonna go find Sarah." He pushed to his feet and waived on his way out. He found her looking over something with Casey. "Hey guys. What's up?"

"We're reviewing the tactical plan for the raid Carina's planning. Not that she's likely to follow it anyway, but she asked for help," Sarah said.

"Oh. You guys aren't getting involved, though, right?"

"Hell no. I'm on vacation."

Sarah looked up at Chuck suggestively. "And I've got you to look after." _Lots of lost time to make up for._ He caught the unrelayed message and blushed while Casey rolled his eyes.

"What part of keep it in your pants did you not understand?"

Chuck smiled. "Oh, come on, Casey-"

"Think about your next words very carefully, Bartowski. I have an itchy trigger finger."

"I'm not worried. You wouldn't shoot me. It'd be far too much paper work for you. On the plus side, though, Sarah would kill you before your gun finished smoking- not to mention the fact that it'd cause you to fail your mission and you, Colonel, are anything but a failure."

Casey grunted. _Damn right I'm not a failure._ "You're awfully sure of Walker's protectiveness. Who's to say I couldn't make her see reason?"

"You couldn't," Sarah said simply as she shuffled through papers, spreading them out more widely across the table.

Casey shrugged. "Might've had a chance before you mixed your chocolate with his peanut butter." Sarah smiled but kept her attention on the mission specs, wheels turning noticeably as she multitasked.

Ellie listened to the banter horrified at the difference in the people she thought she knew. She'd just followed Chuck to remind him not to be late to the rehearsal dinner. She never meant to find him joking so casually about his mortality or Casey and Sarah talking about taking a life as if it were merely something to be done before lunch. She shook her head and looked around the room, loosing track of their conversation while she tried to erase these new images of the people she thought she knew. There were some things she didn't want to think about at the moment.

" . . . Chuck, that's brilliant," Sarah said, beaming proudly at him and Casey had to grunt in acquiescence.

"I'll make the adjustments and send it off to Carina," he said, taking the file with him to his computer.

"Cool," Chuck said. He leaned closer into Sarah's personal space, over the moon that he was actually allowed to now. "So why are we doing this, anyway? Carina is a perfectly capable agent. I doubt she actually needed our help."

"She's probably just out-sourcing her duties. Besides, tactical planning was always something I excelled at. It probably helped that I was the daughter of a conman."

"Daughter of a …" Ellie gasped in shock, speaking for the first time though unable to complete the thought. Her head shook as she tried to wrap her brain around the idea. Overwhelmed, she mumbled, "So much information to process."

"Ellie-"

"No, no, Sarah," she interrupted. "Don't explain. I don't think I can take any more right now. I have to get my head screwed on straight before the rehearsal dinner tonight." She looked pointedly at Sarah. "After which, you and I are having a long and overdue conversation." She turned on her heel, leaving no room for argument.

Sarah stared after her, gulping as she clenched her fist to keep from trembling in fear. Mama Bear Ellie was not something she'd ever felt like going up against head-on but there was no other option. Well, no other option that didn't involve running. She looked at Chuck, who was leaning against the table with his hands folded in front of him. She propped one hand on the table and one hand on her hip and half-jokingly-half-seriously said, "There wouldn't be any way for me to possibly convince you that we could make a run for it, would there?"

"Not a chance."

"Damn."

"Wait," Chuck said, leaning back to look at her, "don't tell me badass super spy is afraid of my sister?"

Sarah rolled her eyes. "Oh, please. As if you can tell me that _you_ aren't."

"Point taken," he said with a tilt of his head. "Okay, so we need to come up with a plan in case things go south."

"You mean we can't just get in the Porsche and ride off into the sunrise?"

"Well, I don't know. You tell me. You're the tactical one. I'm just tech support. And it's sunset."

"Oh, no, I said what I meant." Sarah stepped in front of him and brought her hands up to fiddle with his collar, her heart rate picking up speed as he grasped her waist in his hands- so new, yet so familiar. "We wouldn't be waiting for the sunset since that would be over well before your sister got through with me." She bit her lip and brushed at invisible lint on his shoulders, avoiding eye contact like the plague as she said, "And you aren't '_just'_ anything, Chuck. You're everything." It sounded cheesy even to her. Hesitantly, she slid her gaze up to his face. To see him smiling made her blush. She felt his hands slide around her back and he drew her up in his arms, their lips a hairbreadth away.

"I love you, too," he whispered, closing the distance between them.

"Oh, brother," Casey groaned, rolling his eyes. "I'll go warm up the vic."

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A/N2: Thanks again for reading. Hope you liked it =)


	29. Chapter 29

Yo, yo, people . . . yeah, I don't even know where that came from. Originally I had meant for this chapter to be just Ellie and Sarah and then a reflection portion for Sarah but I couldn't help the first portion. It had to be done. =)

Thanks so much to everyone who has read, reviewed, favorited, and alerted. Rock on!

And a HUGE thank you to Bill. You were a colossal help!

Disclaimer: I own nothing but a girl can dream . . .

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Chapter 29

The nervousness settled in for Sarah as she assisted with putting the chairs up after the rehearsal dinner. Of course they had employees to do the clean up but she had to do something or go crazy from waiting. Each minute that passed brought her closer and closer to the upcoming confrontation with Ellie. Each minute meant she was one step closer to screwing it up. If there was anyone besides herself or Chuck that could end their relationship, it was Ellie. Morgan thought she was 'ninja-cool' and intimidation would always work to settle anything with him but Ellie was different. Intimidation would never work on her.

"What are you doing, Sarah?"

Drawn from her thoughts midway through putting one chair on top of the other, she looked behind her to see Chuck standing with his hands in his pockets, watching at her. She took a breath and finished putting the chair down before moving to grab another one. "I'm cleaning up."

Chuck stepped closer to his girlfriend. "You don't have to do that, you know."

"I know." She stacked another chair. "But I have to do something."

"Are you nervous?"

"_No_," Sarah said contemptuously. She yanked another chair off the ground and took it to her pile. "I'm a spy. Spies don't get nervous." Even though she said it to him, she meant to be reassuring for herself. It wasn't.

"Alright, I'm sorry." Chuck held up his hands in surrender knowing it'd be best to agree with her even if he knew otherwise. He slid his hands down her arms and linked his fingers with hers. "Come on. Let's let these guys work," he said tugging her away from the stacks of chairs.

Her shoulders dropped and she sighed, allowing herself to be pulled away from her distraction. Well, now what was she going to do? Ellie wouldn't be ready for at least another twenty minutes and she'd be damned if she was going to sit and stew. _Hmm, another twenty minutes? _Suddenly, a mischievous idea came to mind as they walked down the deserted hallway. As her nerves began to settle, new ones came alight. "Alright, then, if I can't do that, there is something else I want to do, especially if I'm not going to be able to do it again."

"Yeah? What's that?"

"Have sex with you." Twenty minutes left them with plenty of time to be hard and fast after the slow and sensual of last night. Sarah would like to experience both.

Chuck choked on his gum, unfortunately swallowing it in his surprise. He wanted to ask her why she wouldn't be able to again, why she was really that nervous about talking with Ellie, he wanted to be reassuring but all he could manage was a stuttered, "H-here?"

Sarah just smiled and tugged his hand, leading him down a different hallway. Finding her destination, one she hoped he'd appreciate the irony of, she trapped him between her and the door and set about fiddling with the lock. When she'd gotten the bobbypin out of her hair, Chuck couldn't be sure. Quite frankly he didn't really care once she began to kiss him, banishing any thoughts of conveniently appearing pins. The sensation of her lips touching his while she blindly jimmied the lock made it next to impossible to think about anything besides the feel of her pressed against him. How hot is it that she could pick a lock without even looking? Casey was right. She really was the best. Her tongue slid across his lip, deepening their kiss and effectively eradicating his train of thought.

As all the pins and rods clicked into place, Sarah let out a moan of relief and wrenched the handle open. _Finally._ Any later and she'd have just taken him against the door. The urge to take him away and have her wicked way with him had been a hard pressed battle to fight all night. Going from two years of practically nothing to the best sex of her life made her beyond insatiable. It wasn't fair that he could turn her insides to goo just by giving her his special smile and looking damn good in a suit. It hadn't been like this with the few previous lovers she'd had. This was entirely unnatural.

Staying close to the door, Chuck took control and spun her to now be the one stepping backward. The brief amount of light that entered into the room with them allowed him to see the wall of toilet paper behind Sarah. He laughed as he kicked the door closed. "Guess supply closets really are a second time thing," he said, resuming what she'd started.

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"So this is where you lived before you moved in with Chuck."

"Yep."

Ellie glanced around the room in thought. It was nice, but it was a hotel room, not exactly a place you'd call home. She guessed Sarah brought her here to prove honesty- the doorman recognizing her and the two talking as if old acquaintances proved the truth of this place. Most doormen wouldn't know something as personal about a tenant as their 'boyfriend's' name if they'd only stayed a short while. "Is it weird," she asked, "living out of hotels and such?"

Sarah sucked in a long, slow breath and shook her head. "No. I've pretty much lived that way since I was nine."

"Right." Ellie nodded. "If anything you've told me is true, I assume that's when your father took you away."

Sarah furrowed her brow. "I didn't lie about that, Ellie. Evie really is my sister; my dad really did take me away. Ask her if you don't believe me." Ellie stared blankly at Sarah, giving nothing away. Absently, Sarah thought Ellie would have made an excellent spy. _Duly noted not to play poker with her. _This would be harder than she thought and she'd already thought it'd be god awful. "I guess you have questions about Chuck and me."

"Among other things," she said. "We'll get to Chuck in a minute. I want to know about you being a conman's daughter." That was something she hadn't seen coming from a mile away. CIA agent was bad enough with the way they had to filter personalities like sifting water. And being a conman's daughter meant Sarah had been doing that long before the CIA ever entered the picture. "What is it that makes someone want to _deliberately_ swindle people and take advantage of them? Is that why you turned to the CIA? Because it was more of the same, only with 'ethics' on your side?"

"I didn't seek out the CIA. They recruited me right before I graduated high school."

"Isn't that a bit young?" Ellie asked disbelief mixed through every word.

"Well they didn't make it official until I got to Harvard. Most of the time they wait until college but my father tried to con a really bad group of people. The CIA arrested him to keep him safe and then the arresting officer recruited me. I didn't have anywhere else to go so I took a chance with the CIA."

"Why didn't you just find your mother? Or had you already known she was dead?"

"No, I didn't know yet. I didn't start looking into what happened to Evie until I learned how to track people. It was one of the advantages of becoming involved with the CIA- access to resources. It's when I was searching for Evie that I learned of her death. Frankly, it was better for Evie that she was gone. My mother . . . she wasn't ideal."

"Okay, fine." Ellie could understand that and decided not to press the subject further. Her own mother had only been ideal when she had been around. For all intents and purposes, Sarah seemed to have had a much rougher childhood than she and Chuck, and that's saying something. "Why did you do it though? Why did you con people? I understand when you were young doing as you were told, but why didn't you refuse after you grew a conscience? Or, have you not gotten one of those yet?"

_Ouch._ That hurt. Sarah shifted uncomfortably. Either Ellie was trying to get a rise out of her or she was angry. Probably both. "I didn't know how to else to have a relationship with my father. The only times he ever said he was proud of me were after we completed a job and even then it rarely happened." She sighed. "My father loved me in the best way he knew how. It just . . . wasn't the way most people love each other."

Ellie felt bad for her jab at Sarah but not bad enough to apologize. "So the CIA recruited you after they arrested you're father, and then you went to Harvard." That put Sarah as an agent for more than ten years, which must mean she's good at her job or at the very least extremely resourceful. Ellie doubted your life expectancy as an agent would be very high. Perhaps in a small way of apology, she said, "I knew you were too smart to work at a Weinerlicious or an Orange Orange. What did you study?"

Sarah felt her hope rise a teensy little bit with Ellie's compliment. The way Ellie said it was as more of solidifying a fact to herself, but Sarah appreciated it nonetheless. "Business and finance mostly."

"Hmm. Convenient for your various covers, I'm sure."

"It helped."

"You certainly didn't need to be a Harvard graduate to pretend to be someone's girlfriend, though." Ellie was beyond pissed about the government forcing his kind-hearted brother to be with a cold-hearted agent. And not only that, said agent has no qualms about doing such a thing. But it was hard for her to reconcile Sarah as cold-hearted. Aside from all the back and forth early on in Chuck and Sarah's relationship, things seemed to be better. Ellie couldn't deny that Chuck had been much happier recently than he'd been in the past. There's just got to be something she's missing. "I can't believe this thing with Chuck is all a lie."

Sarah became defensive. "Just because it was a cover never made it a lie. It just made us a different kind of couple."

"Right but you were never actually together. That was all fake."

"Ellie, I care about Chuc-"

"Oh, you care about him- you _care_ about him?" Ellie repeated the words, infuriated. "Forgive me if I doubt your care towards my brother if you willingly charade as his girlfriend knowing he's fallen for you and making it impossible for him to move on. Do you even know him at all? I mean, what is this to you, Sarah? Because this is his life. It's not something that you can pretend away or cover up."

"It wasn't just a cover to me."

She folded her arms, nodding scornfully. "Because you care about him."

Sarah heard the dripping sarcasm in her tone. "Ellie, I-" she paused for a breath, gathering up strength enough to say the words she hadn't said in a long time, "I love your brother."

"Okay, you love him. I believe that. Anyone with eyes can see that but do you know what it means to love somebody? Do you know how to love somebody?" Sarah stared at her like a deer in headlights, doubt creeping into her expression. Ellie could see the wheels moving but didn't wait for her to catch up before throwing out another question. "Do you understand that loving someone is more than just _caring_ about them?"

"Alright, look," she paused, thinking of how to explain it better. "I may not have been able to say all things I wanted to say in the way I wanted to say them while it was a cover but that doesn't mean the feelings weren't mutual. Talking about feelings has never been something I've done well."

"Well, congratulations. That's seeing the forest for the trees," Ellie said caustically and shook her head. "Do you know about Jill?"

She swallowed a biting comment about the good-for-nothing, two-timing wench. Did she know about Jill? She knew a hell of a lot more about her than she wanted to, not to mention the bitch tried to kill her. If anything _Jill_ was a new four letter word to Sarah. "He's mentioned it," she said as calmly as she could manage while simultaneously wondering what Jill had to do with anything.

"Did you know he was going to propose?" By the open shock that crossed Sarah's face for half a second, Ellie could see that she hadn't known. Thank goodness her 'Sarah-watching' skills had gotten better as of recent. "Oh, yes. Almost had the ring picked out and everything. He loved Jill and he was in a five year funk after that whole debacle but with you it'd be worse. He loves you far more deeply than he's ever loved anything or anyone and you know it. If you aren't actually in this for the long haul then you're just being callous. You may be able to move on like it's nothing after this Intersect thing is gone but this will destroy him. Do you get that? I will not stand by and watch my brother become a shell of a human being. Not again. I refuse."

"I don't want to hurt him."

"But you can't promise that you won't," Ellie said assuming that's where Sarah had been going with the statement. "Sarah, you can either make him the man he has every potential to be or you can end him. Real people want commitment from the people they love. They expect it. Can you do that?"

Even though Sarah stood on the opposite side of the room, she felt the blow of every syllable Ellie'd said. If this had been a physical altercation, Ellie would, hands down, be in the lead. She was throwing out all the punches and kicks and Sarah couldn't dodge them fast enough. Ellie's words hurt a lot more than she would have liked because the truth was she didn't know if she could. Even she doubted if she was the best person for Chuck but he seemed to be set on her. That much she knew. And that made her want to work at becoming good enough for him. Standing taller, she gave the best answer she could, "I want to try."

"Try?" Ellie repeated, sensing the shift in Sarah's demeanor and being grateful she wasn't backing down although curious as to why. Sarah had nothing to loose. She wouldn't have to see Chuck fall apart.

"Yes. Try," she repeated firmly feeling a small amount of confidence build. "You're right, Ellie. I don't know a lot about love and I'd hardly know where to start, but I want to learn. I want Chuck to teach me how to do it right. He means more to me than every breath I take and somehow I will convince you of that again. I mean, you thought I was doing a pretty damn good job before."

"But you faked it. It's a cover."

"So?" she said in reprimand, realizing just how much that excuse sucked to hear. "That didn't change what I felt for him then and it won't change what I feel for him now."

Ellie could feel herself becoming frustratingly confused by Sarah's words. All this back and forth of present tense and past tense was starting to grate on her. "Why are we discussing this as though there are two separate things going on?"

"Because Chuck and I _are_ together now," she said quickly and then clarified, "in what you and he would define as a real relationship."

"Okay wait. So how long have you been 'officially' together, then?"

"A few days." Ellie's hands flung in the air and slapped her legs. Sarah took that to mean she didn't believe her. "Cover or not, Ellie, it was always real to me just without the sex." Something about the statement made Ellie step back and tilt her head thoughtfully.

"You mean to tell me that, before last night, you'd never had sex with him?"

"Yes."

That deflated her sails. Ellie rubbed a hand around her forehead and down her neck. "Wow, I was not expecting that." That changed things. All this time, Ellie had assumed that Sarah was taking advantage of the situation, of her brother's feelings, but waiting meant that she'd been sparing them. She sighed, her eyes blinking bewilderedly. "What a memorable first time."

Sarah pushed down the heat rising in her cheeks but couldn't hide the smile. "In more ways than one," she agreed.

"What changed? Why is it that you can be together now if you weren't allowed to be before?"

"Your brother stupidly talked to General Beckman the night they went to the ball," she said although Ellie could tell there was no anger behind it. "It's against regulations for agents to become emotionally compromised with an asset. They think it would affect an agent's judgment as to the protection or use of their asset. I don't know how he managed it but somehow he convinced her that we wouldn't be a horrible thing." Sarah gave an exasperated but fond sigh, her smile becoming more noticeable as if lost in memories. And then, in a flash, it was gone. "Your brother makes it difficult for even the hardest of agents not to feel something."

Ellie smiled understandingly. "That sneaky charm of his."

"Yeah." Sarah nodded and her smile returned. "He's been the best boyfriend . . . the best _friend_ I've ever had. He's shown me things I didn't know I was missing. He's given me a taste of what life's supposed to be like- you all have. And I just want to do for him what he's done for me no matter how unlikely I am to attain that goal."

Sarah was getting dangerously close to convincing Ellie that she could whole-heartedly love Chuck like he needed to be loved. Like he deserved to be loved. It came down to the fact that she'd been lied to for the entire time she'd known the woman. And if it was all fake before whose to say Sarah didn't just give an Oscar-worthy performance now? She sighed. "Here's the deal Sarah. I want to believe you. I want to be your friend. You've been so good for Chuck and I think he's good for you too. But I've lost my trust in you and that takes time to get back. It's not something that one conversation is going to change."

"I understand," Sarah said sadly.

Ellie licked her lips in thought. _Where to go from here?_ "Well, obviously we can't let anyone know we've had an argument so as far as tomorrow is concerned, I'd like to pretend that the majority of the last twenty-four hours haven't happened. Hopefully with so many other things going on, I can do that. Are you game?"

"I can do that."

Ellie's brow rose and she was just barely able to hold back rolling her eyes. _Of course you can._ She went to the front door knowing Sarah would follow. Ellie drove so if Sarah wanted to get home, she'd have to follow. By the time she'd gotten to the door, Sarah hadn't moved. "You coming?"

"For the record, Ellie, whether it used to be a cover or not, I've always counted you as a friend. I hope that one day we can truly be friends again. I'm willing to do whatever it takes."

"You planning on giving up your job any time soon?" Ellie watched Sarah's eyes widen as she swallowed, evidently not anticipating that question. Ellie pursed her lips. "Don't answer that." She rolled her neck, stretching out the muscles and sighed. "Sarah, just . . . we'll figure it out. If you honestly want us as a permanent fixture in your life, we're going to have to because I sure as hell am not going to stop having a relationship with my brother because of who he plans on being with. You need to be sure. He has to be more important to you than anything else. Before this thing with Chuck goes any further, you need to be sure of that. That's all I'm saying. As long as that's in place, everything else can work itself out."

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The car ride home had been made in discomfited silence. After Ellie parked the car, neither woman made a move to exit the vehicle- Ellie because she feared it would break the tenuous trust they have at the moment and Sarah because she was following Ellie's lead. Ellie stared at the keys in her hand, her other undecided about opening the door, when Sarah spoke.

"Ellie, should we- um, it's your last night as a bachelorette-"

"Its okay, Sarah," she said, catching her drift "We don't have to do anything. It'd be awkward anyway so it's probably for the best that we part ways." Sarah nodded sadly in reply. Ellie didn't have it left in her to be rude any longer. "But thanks for thinking about it."

Sarah met her eyes with a tight smile. "No problem." Whatever spell had settled over the pair broke and both ladies exited. They walked side by side back to their apartments, neither speaking but at least it wasn't as awkward as in the car. Once at the fountain, they spilt to different directions without a word. As if having the same thought process, each one paused in their respective doorways, exchanging small smiles and a short wave before they shut their doors.

Sarah pressed her forehead against the door and sighed, hoping to rid her body from the weight of the day. No such luck. Both relationships with the two most important women in her life are in complete shambles. One felt beyond repair and the other would always have a cloud hovering above it. What was she going to do? How could she fix it?

She turned around to find the couch unfolded with fresh sheets, turned down and ready for her, a pair of pajamas laid out as well. With an appreciative smile, she quietly crept to the bed. Chuck wasn't in it, unfortunately, but he did leave a note on top of her sleepwear.

_Hey Beautiful,_

_Didn't want to disrupt your talk with Ellie. I hope that went okay. I went to the hotel with Devon and his brothers. Cleared it with Casey, so no worries. =) _

_Call if you need to. I'll probably need it more than you, lol. One Awesome is bad enough sometimes but Team Awesome is completely overwhelming. I'll manage if you need a night, though. Ellie has a tendency to be long winded, so I wouldn't be surprised if you're completely exhausted. Sleep well. _

_Love you,_

_Chuck_

Sarah put the letter on the side table and pulled out her phone, sending Chuck a quick message.

_How's it going with Team Awesome?_

She grabbed the pair of striped pajama bottoms and slipped them on while waiting for a reply. Quickly changing her dress for the t-shirt, she laid the dress neatly on the chair and took her phone with her as she went to the guest bathroom to wash her face. Her phone chirped while she was brushing her teeth.

_It's not so bad. Wish you were here though._

She waited until she was crawling into bed before she sent her response._ Tomorrow will come soon enough._ _Be safe. I'm heading to bed._ She didn't want to get into an in depth conversation right now so she didn't leave an opening for him. She hadn't had more than a few hours sleep each night for the past few nights. A good slumber beckoned to her.

_Okay. Sweet dreams. 3 u_

_Sweet dreams._

With a soft smile, she put the phone down on the table and burrowed into the covers with the intention of falling asleep. Chuck really was amazing, especially since they'd gotten together. He never pushed her if she didn't want to talk about something even though she knew he wanted to know. He put her above his own needs and made sure she had everything she needed. He took care of her like no one else ever had. Ellie was right. Chuck really loved her and it felt . . . nice- more than nice, if not slightly undeserved. The best part, though, was not only knowing it but being able to acknowledge it.

The problem wasn't wondering if she knew she loved him back because she was certain that she did. The problem was constantly wondering if she was doing it right, wondering if it was enough, wondering if she loved him like he loved her. But how could she when she couldn't even bring herself to say the words yet? It was only a matter of time, but if she knew it and she knew that he loved her, what was holding her back?

Sarah tossed and turned for fifteen minutes. No position was comfortable for long enough to allow sleep to come. Plagued by doubts and questions, she successfully worked herself into a state of insomnia. _Okay, Sarah, you just need to relax. _She lied down on her back and closed her eyes, taking deep breaths in and releasing them slowly, counting each one until she got to ten, trying to focus only on her breathing and push everything else away. After a few rounds her eyes flew open agitatedly. It wasn't working and she was hardly patient at the moment.

A sudden surge of energy forced her out of bed. She paced the living room, trying with all her might to expel the unwanted adrenaline and calm her racing mind. All she wanted to do was sleep. She was so tired but her body wouldn't let her, at least not until she figured some things out. _A drive. That's it._ Driving always helped to calm her. There was something about being behind the wheel that brought a sense of control when things seemed beyond it.

Sarah threw on her knitted sweater and shoved her phone in the pocket before grabbing her keys, forgoing shoes. She wouldn't need to be driving for very long anyway.

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It was one o'clock in the morning. Sarah had driven around town for hours but nothing seemed to quell the thoughts. If anything, more ran rampant- like if she got the call tomorrow for a mission, a dream mission, would she leave him? If they were together, would he want her to stop spying? And if so, would she do it to keep him even if that wasn't something she thought she could do? Maybe she could do it for a while and pretend it was okay but being a spy was the only job she actually had qualifications for. Giving up the one thing that formed most of her identity wasn't something she was sure she could do.

Somehow she found herself sitting on the beach watching the surf roll in. Chuck found the sound soothing, calming. Perhaps it would help her. Even without meaning to, he played a part in her decisions. Why is that? How had he become so laced in her life that he subconsciously forced the hand she played? And what does that even mean anyway? Sitting in this spot brought memories to mix in with her doubt- wonderful, spontaneous memories. This is the spot where she asked Chuck to trust her. This is the spot she gave herself to him, once emotionally and once physically.

"Well, fancy meeting you out here, little miss." Sarah looked behind her to see the police officer from that morning looking at her. "You aren't waiting for your boyfriend, are you? I may hafta bring you in if that's the case."

Sarah sniffled and wiped her eyes, not realizing a few tears had fallen. God, she must be tired. She gave a small laugh. "No. That was just a one time, spur of the moment thing."

"Ah, I see." He grimaced. So he'd been wrong. "Met him at a club?"

She could tell by his tone what he meant. "No we've been together for a couple of years actually." As an afterthought, she added, "And we met at his work."

"Oh okay," he said lightly, feeling better. "Judge you right then. Thought for a second there my winning streak had been broken." She gave a small laugh while pulling herself together. Try as she might to hide them, he could see the moonlight glistening off her face. Knowing what that meant, he squinted comically and hunch toward her. "What are all them tears for? A pretty little miss like you shouldn't be cryin. He didn't break up with you, did he?"

"No."

"Did he do something to break your heart, then?"

"No." She shook her head. "But I'm afraid I'm going to break his."

"Well that's a stupid thing to be 'fraid of," he said, standing tall again.

"Why?"

"Well, look at you. You're distraught at the mere idear. Now I don't know about you but where I come from, you don't do things that make you distraught." The girl stayed quiet when suddenly a thought occurred to him. "Have you done something that would break his heart?"

"Not yet," she murmured quietly.

He sighed and rolled his eyes. This girl was gonna beat herself up over something that hasn't even happened if he left. His keys clinked and his leather belt creaked as he sat down in the sand next to Sarah. Beating the sand off his hands, he said "Why don't you start by tellin me what's going on and we'll see if we can fix them tears of yours."

Sarah looked mildly aghast that he'd offered. "I wouldn't even know where to begin."

"The beginning's a fine place to start, if I do say so myself. You say you met at his work?"

"Yeah. He fixed my phone. I remember everything about that day perfectly." She smiled as she thought of the moment and how sweet Chuck was to the little ballerina. She looked to the man next to her and said, "You're sweet for wanting to get involved but I don't want to get in the way of your job."

He tilted his head in a lightly chastising fashion. "There's more to life the work, little miss," he said sagely. "Please. I'm an old man. You ain't really gonna make me git back up so soon, are ya? I just got down here."

Sarah looked him over with a disbelieving eye. Old man or not, she could tell he still had a spring in his step. She tried to deter him, "It might be boring."

"You slept with him on a beach. It couldn't be that boring."

Sarah laughed and shook her head. "Well . . . then who am I to resist?" He smiled fatherly at her, waiting for her to continue. Personal things always caused her a moment of hesitation but under his patient stare she folded.

The officer watched the woman across from him amused. At times she was overly gesticulate and animated while at others she was somber and reserved. He knew he wasn't getting the whole story but he understood the gist. She was a woman who traveled profusely, a no roots type of girl and he was a homebody. They liked to bleed into the other side from time to time but neither was sure it could be permanent and now the relationship has gone on for so long that something's got to give.

". . . I just don't know if I can be what he wants from life. It's like I'm damned if I try and damned if I don't and either way he gets hurt."

"I think I see." He nodded. "Have you talked with him about this? Do you know for sure that he's gonna ask you to leave your job? Seems to me that's his sister's asking."

"We haven't discussed it," she said with a shrug and offered her justification, "but I know he would want someone he comes home to every night. Someone to cook his meals-"

He threw his head back and laughed. "Oh, little miss, you need to talk to him about this. I bet he knew exactly what he was gettin' into with you. As much as you've tried to keep him from it, he knows you a lot better than you think. And if he wanted someone to play house with, he'd have gone with those other girls. But why settle for vanilla when you can have chocolate? Which, by the way, was some of the best cake I have ever had."

"Was it good? He picked it out."

He nodded. "If you don't mind my sayin' so, your boy has good taste," he said, the gleam in his eye letting Sarah know he wasn't just talking about cake.

Sarah smiled bashfully and looked down.

"The way I see it, if he is anythin' like you say then he'll want you to be happy. Your job makes you happy-" the way her eyes widened and her head tilted made him stop. "It does make you happy, right?"

She shrugged. "It's comfortable. I know it. I know I'm good at it. I like it, that's for sure. It helped me come into my own so I need it."

"You need it or you need-ed it?" The girl squirmed in the sand and he pressed on, knowing it was time for some tough love. "Change is a scary thing. Your job did what you needed it to when you were alone but now there are two people to think of. I think you already know what you wanna do and that you're not afraid of breaking his heart. You're afraid of breaking yours. I don't even know that boy but how many people need to tell you that that boy loves you for you to understand that he ain't never gon' leave you? And he knows you ain't never gon' be some damsel in distress but for the few times when you are, he'll be there to pick up the pieces." She looked away a flash of agitation in her eyes as if the thought a being a damsel in distress was too much. He leaned around to see her face making sure she wouldn't run away. "You don't always hafta carry the load alone, little miss. That's a lonesome road."

She stared at him, stoic and unwilling to speak.

"It's not weakness to need somebody or somethin'. You just hafta decide which one you need more- your job, or your boy. And if you want my advice, love's rare these days. It's the harder choice but if you work at it, if you're a team, it can be far more rewarding than any job will ever be. And jobs don't rub your feet when you're tired."

Sarah rolled her eyes with a chuckle. "Anyone ever tell you that you should've become a therapist instead of a cop?"

He laughed but ignored the comment. Apparently he was getting through. "Talk to him." His companion nodded but to what he wasn't sure. She looked so young with her arms wrapped around her knees and the wind blowing the tendrils of her hair. He sincerely hoped she'd take his advice. He hoped she'd take a chance. He didn't know this couple well enough- he knew their story and saw them together once- but for what it was worth, he thought they looked great together. For now, though, it seemed she was done talking. He rolled to his feet but looked her in the face before standing. "Well, little miss, I best be getting back to work. You take care now, ya hear?" He tipped his hat toward her and she smiled.

"Have a good night, Officer. And thank you for listening."

"Obliged to do my civic duty." He smiled back and stood. "Just one last parting thing, though. If for some reason you decide that it's not him, if you decide that this is something you can't do, leave now 'fore the hurtin' gits any worse. Because his sister is right. You need to give him- and yourself- a fightin' chance to move on from this." She bit her lip, looking even more child like as she peered up at him. "Now, little miss, I expect to know what happened. I'm invested." As he walked away, he called over his shoulder, "You know where to find me."

Sarah swallowed slowly, feeling sufficiently parented by a complete stranger. She watched the officer walk down the beach for a good fifty yards before she looked back at the waves. He was right. She needed to commit to Chuck or run . . . tonight.

If she hadn't been before, she was starting to freak out now.

_Oh, god._

..-. .- - .. .-.. -.- - .- - - . .-. … … - - .-.

. . . please don't kill me.


	30. Chapter 30

Disclaimer: Still own nothing

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Chapter Thirty

Chuck's alarm went off at eight o'clock the next morning. The suite had two rooms and a common area with a kitchenette; plenty of room so that none of them would step on each other's toes. Devon got one room, his brother's had the other and Chuck was on the couch.

He pressed his snooze button, wanting to get a few more minutes of sleep before starting the day. Sarah had been right. There was a noticeable difference in how well he slept if she was with him or not. He shifted on the couch, trying to get more comfortable when the whirring of a blender interrupted his attempt. He sat up with a groan knowing sleep wouldn't come now. Rubbing his eyes, he went to the bar and plopped down in a chair.

"Morning, Chuckster," Devon said a bit too cheerfully for so early, Chuck thought. "Want some of my shake?"

"No, Captain Awesome," Chuck said. He yawned and rested his head over his arms on the counter. "I think I'm good."

"You sure? I'm telling you, Sarah would appreciate the rise in your-"

"Seriously, Devon," Chuck cut him off quickly, "we're doing just fine in that department."

Devon shrugged. "I guess two years of repressed sexual tension is bound to work in your favor." He drank from his glass and then leaned forward on his elbows, holding the cup with both hands. "How did you manage it, Bro, especially with someone like Sarah?"

"Self-restraint," Chuck said, "A lot of self-restraint." He shrugged and sat back against the chair. "Plus, if I tried anything before I was allowed, Sarah would have kicked my ass."

"Yeah, that ability is kinda hot in its own way."

Chuck waggled his finger at Devon. "Just don't forget who it is you're actually marrying, Devon."

Devon laughed. "No worries, Bro. I can't wait. Couldn't sleep a wink last night, I was so excited. It's gonna be awesome!" He took another sip, lost in thought.

Chuck nodded with a smile watching Devon grin like a fool into his glass. He looked really happy. Knowing it had to be done, things turned serious when Chuck said, "Promise me you'll never hurt my sister. Promise me that you'll always take care of her."

Devon nodded and looked up to meet Chuck's eyes. "Easiest promise I will ever make, Bro. You have my word."

"Good, because, don't forget, I have connections now." Devon's eyes widened slightly as he looked warily at Chuck. Chuck managed to hold a straight face until Devon blinked. The movement broke Chuck's resolve and he started to laugh. "Am I okay to shower first?" he asked standing up.

Devon nodded while finishing off his shake. "Yeah, I'm gonna get a quick run in. We have to be at the church in two hours."

"Okay. Should we synchronize our watches?" Chuck asked jokingly and Devon rolled his eyes as he started to rinse his cup.

"You are such a nerd."

"Hey," Chuck said brightly, "you got it right." He made a pit-stop at the couch for his phone and sent off a quick text to Sarah before starting to get ready.

..-. .- - .. .-.. -.- - .- - - . .-. … … - - .-.

{Chapel}

Chuck fiddled with his tie, undoing it for the millionth time. Either the wrong end was too long or it was too tight or something but it just wasn't working. If Sarah were here, she'd fix it right up but no. She hadn't responded to any of his texts. She didn't even answer when he'd called. He didn't even know if she was here yet. It worried him more than he thought it should. Sarah wouldn't skip out. Right?

He let out a frustrated sigh and started to wash his hands for something else to do. The room designated for the groomsmen had started to feel claustrophobic so he left to find a bathroom. He shook the water off his hands and dried them before checking his phone again to make sure he didn't miss it vibrate or anything. Still nothing. He clenched the phone tightly in his hands and tapped it against his forehead. _Come on, phone. Vibrate. _Chuck whipped to door as it squeaked open.

"Charles. Almost ready?"

Seeing his father, Chuck put his phone away as casually as possible. "Yeah, Dad, I just can't get my stupid tie to work." Hopefully any frustration about Sarah would be properly masked by his frustration over his tie, because he was frustrated at it.

Stephen stepped closer to his son and lifted his shirt collar, getting to work on Chuck's tie. Chuck looked up to the ceiling and sighed like an annoyed child. Stephen smirked but continued working. "You know, your mother used to do this for me all the time. I still can't tie my own."

Without making eye contact, Chuck said, "Well Sarah usually does mine, but she's not around."

At her name, the smile dropped from Stephen's face and he paused in his motions. He cleared his throat and started fixing the tie again. "You know she's gonna leave you, right? After this mission is over, they're going to reassign her and she's going to leave. You're just a pawn in her game."

Chuck pushed his father's hands away crossly. "Dad, stop it. That's enough," he said agitatedly. He had enough doubt without his father adding to it. He turned to face the mirror, brow knitted together as he furiously undid the knot his father started. Resting his hands on the counter, he hung his head and took a calming breath. "Why can't you just be happy for me?"

"Son-"

He turned a stony gaze on his father. "You don't know anything, Dad. Sarah and I are together. It's not a cover." Almost as an afterthought, he added, "It's real."

"How do you know?"

"Because I just do!" Chuck shouted, his voice echoing through the room. Even if he was having slight doubts at the moment since Sarah hadn't spoken to him, he'd no intention of letting his father know that. "Trust me. For once get off your high horse long enough to-"

"Not when you're making a mistake, Charles."

"I'm not, Dad," he insisted. "I'm not. I love her and she loves me."

"Has she told you that?" Stephen watched Chuck roll his eyes and look away but said nothing. "See? She's playing you."

Chuck sighed and shook his head. "Sarah just has a hard time opening up," he defended. "She's told me things about her past, things that when it used to be a cover never would have been said. She hasn't said she loves me in so many words but I know she does."

"Charles, I'm trying to protect you. I don't want you to get hurt."

"Stop," he pleaded quietly, "Please, stop trying to protect me." His voice was thick with emotion. Before he could break down, he left. The last thing he wanted to do in front of his father was cry, especially when a small part of him was afraid his father might be right. Downtrodden with despair, Chuck wandered down the hall searching for an exit to the outside. Fresh air would do some good, he hoped.

"Oh my god, Chuck, where are you going? The ceremony starts in twenty minutes."

Hearing Ellie's frazzled voice made Chuck stop. He took a moment to shake off his stupor before turning to address her. Today was her day. He shouldn't talk to her about his insecurities. "I'm sorry, El." He flashed a small, quick smile. "I'm just going for some fresh air."

With an appraising eye, Ellie looked Chuck up and down. Try as he might to hide it, she know something was off. "What is it? What's going on?"

Internally, Chuck rolled his eyes clearly not having done a good enough job covering it up. "Everything's fine. Nothing to worry about." He smiled with more effort this time. "How are you doing? Can I get you anything?"

"No, I'm fine," she said. "Just a little nervous truthfully."

Chuck gave her an empathetic look. "Hey, there's nothing to be nervous about. Devon's not going anywhere."

"Oh, no, that's not what I'm worried about," Ellie said. "Your girlfriend needs to sit down before she falls down but she won't listen to me."

"Have you tried phrasing it like an order? She seems to listen to those."

Ellie chuckled but caught an underlying sense of bitterness on his part. "I think she'll only listen to you, little brother."

Something about the statement caused Chuck to pause. Did Ellie know something he didn't? "What makes you say that? She hasn't spoken to me at all today."

"Huh, that's strange," Ellie said. "Well, Honey has kept her running around like a chicken with its head cut off; making sure everyone is where they're supposed to be and all that. Honestly, I've appreciated her heading off Honey all morning so I don't have to, but I know she hasn't slept in over twenty-four hours." On Chuck's perplexed look, Ellie laughed and pushed him away from the door. "Go find her and force her to sit but tell her she has to fix your damn tie first. I will not have my brother walk down the aisle with a black eye _and_ an undone tie."

..-. .- - .. .-.. -.- - .- - - . .-. … … - - .-.

{Earlier in the morning}

Someone was pounding at the door. It was six o'clock in the morning and someone was pounding at the door. It was six o'clock in the morning on her _wedding_ day and someone was pounding at the door. Is there no humanity?

Oh, wait.

It stopped.

Maybe they changed their-

_Bang, bang, bang!_

Never mind. _Damn it!_Ellie groaned and rolled out of bed. She covered her grey sleep shirt and sweatpants with a thin off white robe. Sexy underwear was for later. For now it was all about comfortable. As she made her way down the hall, she thought tiredly, _If that is Devon's mom, I swear-_

"Sarah?" Ellie asked, not quite believing who was at the door. "What are y-"

"We need to talk," Sarah said pushing past Ellie into the apartment, refusing to give her a chance to say no.

"Yes, why don't you please come in," she said sarcastically to herself as she let the door close. Turning around with crossed arms, Ellie took a good look over Sarah, waiting for her to speak. Her hair was windblown; her eyes were bloodshot with dark rings beneath them. Ellie had seen that look on enough doctors to know that Sarah hadn't slept. The pajamas she wore were rumpled and covered by a knitted sweater, but most importantly, her feet were bare. That's odd. Ellie felt a tug at her heart as she looked up confused at Sarah pacing by the couch. "Sarah, are you alright?" she asked, sensing a feeling of déjà vu.

"No, I'm not alright, Ellie," she said exasperated. "I'm not alright at all. I'm tired, I'm frustrated and mad and angry and-" Sarah stopped when she heard the quiver in her voice and rubbed her tired eyes. _Great. I'm using words of the same meaning._ She was so exhausted that she felt like crying and if she wasn't careful she would.

Concern took over at Sarah's candor. Ellie tentatively stepped closer to Sarah, dropping her arms by her sides in hopes that Sarah would feel more comfortable to continue. She kept a respectable distance between them- not because she thought Sarah would hurt her, she just wasn't sure she was ready to start mending the rift between them. Allowing her hesitance to pass, she said, "Okay, why don't you tell me what's going on?"

Sarah laughed humorlessly and groaned, turning away from Ellie. She needed a moment to pull it together. That was the second time she'd heard some variation of those words tonight. She sighed. "It's your fault," she intoned accusingly, thrusting her hand at Ellie.

"My fault?"

"_Yes_," she affirmed irately. "You made me think about things. You made me question a decision I made a long time ago. I let you bulldozeme into thinking I wasn't good enough or smart enough to learn how to be with Chuck- into thinking that it wasn't enough to love him. You made me question everything. It's all your fault."

For some reason, these words made Ellie feel like smiling but she fought against that. Instead, she squared her shoulders and braced herself against the fury that was Sarah. This was a new Sarah. This was the Sarah she'd seen a glimmer of last night. This was the Sarah who fought for what she wanted. This was the Sarah who could be with Chuck. This was the Sarah Ellie wanted to be with Chuck.

"I was going to wait until you got back from your honeymoon but I thought, 'you know what? To hell with that.' I'm not spending all day walking on eggshells around you because I'm tired, Ellie. I'm tired. I physically won't be able to do it." Sarah paused, taking a breath and clenching her fists together angrily. "And you know what pisses me off the most, though, is that you're right. You're absolutely right. I don't know the first thing about loving someone. I don't know how to show it, I don't know how to say it," she ticked off on her fingers. "I haven't got a clue about any of it. As a matter of fact, I'm terrified at the thought of it. But I'm more terrified of not having Chuck. I don't like who I am when he's not around and I'll be damned if I let anyone take him away from me- even you. He is the most important thing in the world to me, whether you want to believe that or not and I can't be without him because without him I'm just another spy in the game, another tragedy of the job. Without him I loose all of my humanity. He found me when I didn't even know I should be looking, let alone where to begin. So if you want me out of his life, I have one thing to say to you." She stepped into Ellie's face, features hardened with unwavering clarity. "Over my dead body."

Ellie stood firmly, refusing to feel inferior under Sarah's potent gaze. Sarah's eyes held an impassioned honesty that Ellie couldn't deny was real. Throughout the whole tirade, Sarah had never once said 'I love Chuck' but this was the first time Ellie felt Sarah was prepared to love him. Ellie had meant it when she'd said that she believed Sarah loved Chuck, but that wasn't the point. Sarah had to work out her demons and come to the conclusion that no matter what happened, she would give a relationship with Chuck a real chance to grow and not run scared at the first sign of trouble. Sarah had been taught her whole life to run when things got too complicated, too messy, and Ellie wouldn't allow for that habit of Sarah's to taint Chuck in any way. Sarah had to be prepared and Ellie finally felt she was. "What about your job? Are you going to quit?"

She stared back in Ellie's eyes, not backing down. "No," Sarah said resolutely, "I won't. Not because you want me to." She let that settle with Ellie for a moment before continuing. "I am damn good at my job. There is no one better suited to protect Chuck than me regardless of if I have feelings for him or not." The moment the words crossed her lips, she believed them. For the first time, she _knew_ she could both protect Chuck and love him without the world ending. Everything was perfectly clear. "I refuse to leave him in the hands of another agent while he's involved with the CIA. It's not happening. He's _my_ asset, he's _my_ guy."

"That's all well and good to say now," Ellie said, "but what happens when he's not? What happens when the CIA orders you to another mission?" It was almost a certainty that they would and Ellie had to know what Sarah would do.

Sarah took a moment to prepare her words. Giving up her job wasn't something she wanted to do but how to explain that to Ellie? "You asked me if I had a conscience," she said softly, minute traces of hurt in the statement.

Ellie blinked. Of all the statements she hadn't expected that one. She stayed silent in curiosity, pushing down the growing thought that no matter how much Sarah loved Chuck, she would leave.

"When I conned people, I felt bad but I didn't understand why, and it was never enough to stop. And after so many years of conning people, you were right- becoming an agent was a walk in the park. I was a natural- sailed right through my training. Half the time the other trainees had no clue I was working them because it didn't matter if it was a con or a mission, the idea was same: take what you want by any means necessary. Over time, I learned that the difference was using those skills for the right reasons made it all the more worthwhile. These ethics you speak of, some code of conduct you're meant to abide by, I never had that. The CIA gave me that. They gave me purpose. Being a spy is all I know, it's all I've been trained to do." She paused. "But that said, Chuck is my conscience now. If it came down to loosing my job or loosing him, there is no contest. Chuck is the end of the line for me, Ellie, so if he wanted me to, I would quit. I hope he wouldn't make me, at least not for a while, until I can get a grasp on this whole normal thing."

"Chuck would never force you give up something you love. You must know that."

"I do."

"So when your job gets in the way, then you'll quit?"

Sarah considered the true meaning behind question. It seemed Ellie wanted reassurance that she wouldn't leave Chuck high and dry. "It's irrational to think I could be a spy forever, even I know that." She met Ellie's eye. "For right now, me being an agent is what's best for Chuck. If it ever stops being what's best for him, then it will go." She took a step closer to Ellie in earnest. "This is it, Ellie. This is my chance to make a dream reality. I know I'll make mistakes but I know I can do this- I _want_to do this."

Ellie's licked her lips and looked away in thought. There's no way Sarah could act when she was obviously swaying on her feet. It's like she had to tell Ellie before she lost her nerve or went to bed. The small seed of doubt, however, planted by her father left Ellie in a state of limbo. Sarah was the best agent, she admitted herself to fooling fellow trainees and enjoying it. "How do I know this is real? You are the best after all."

Sarah sighed in despair as she flopped on the couch. Why couldn't Ellie have the blind trust in her that Chuck had? "I don't know how to prove it," she choked out. Her head shook and her eyes glittered as she looked up at Ellie. "What do you want me to say? What do you want me to do?"

She sighed. "I don't mean to make this hard for you, Sarah. It's just- I don't what's real with you anymore. All these things I've seen with you over the past two years have been an act."

Sarah almost rolled her eyes. "If it was such an act, we certainly didn't do a very good job."

Ellie cracked a smile at that. "I guess that's true. It did always seem like you guys were sitting on the outside of a relationship that never seemed to go anywhere."

Sarah nodded in agreement, understanding exactly what Ellie meant.

"Until now, at least."

Sarah turned a shocked but brightening gaze at Ellie.

"Sarah," Ellie said, sitting down next to her, "I can't deny that, especially recently, as in the past few days, Chuck has been the happiest I've seen him. And you said you've officially been together for only a few days so obviously they're related. And you actually shared something real with me about your sister. Before that, it never really felt like I knew you all that well. I mean, getting you to share anything was like pulling teeth."

Sarah snorted knowing that was an understatement. Sarah Walker is a lot of things- open is not one of them.

Ellie gave a muted smile. "We were always friends but now I think we can become good friends. Maybe even best friends."

"W-what are you saying, Ellie?" Sarah asked, not even trying to hide the hope but wanting to be sure she understood.

"I'm saying that it's a start."

Sarah sagged back against the couch in relief. The thought of being with Chuck and having a strained relationship with the most important person in his life left a coil of anxiety in her stomach, but now, she had hope things would get better. "You have no idea how much it means to hear you say that." In an unnatural move, Sarah sat up and initiated an embrace with Ellie. Ellie jumped at the contact, not expecting it but slowly returned the gesture. "Thank you, Ellie. Thank you so much."

..-. .- - .. .-.. -.- - .- - - . .-. … … - - .-.

{Chapel}

Sarah walked around the dining hall checking to make sure the center pieces had been done properly as per Honey Woodcomb's orders. _"There mustn't be a flower out of place. The day must be perfect,"_ she had said. Sarah had rolled her eyes but for the sake of saving Ellie from her soon-to-be mother-in-law, she'd agreed to help Honey.

It was soon a decision she'd come to regret because apparently, before a wedding, there were a lot of 'minor' problems- minor to her but to Honey it was like the end of the world- that needed to be fixed along the way and a lot of people to verify locations and degrees of readiness. On top of all that, she was expected to get herself ready as well. At this point, she had no idea what wind she was on but it was well past a second one. Leisurely getting ready for anything was something she would never take for granted again.

Finished with the last table, Sarah practically fell into a chair, holding her head in her hands. God, she was tired. Honey was off yelling at one of the servers about something or another and she just needed a break. All this walking, all this stress, it was too much. The morning had passed in a complete blur. The last time she remembered being this tired, she'd been tortured for days beforehand. Torture's easy compared to a wedding.

Sensing a presence next to her, Sarah flashed a malicious look toward the person, knowing it wasn't Honey. Honey would have screamed at her for sitting- _"Don't ruin you dress,"_ and blah, blah, blah. Seeing it was Chuck made her features noticeably soften and a relieved smile to appear. "Please tell me you've come to rescue me. That woman is driving me insane," she said continuing before he could respond, "I swear, Chuck, when we get married we are eloping because this is just too much." Too soon for the discussion or not, Sarah knew it was inevitable and she was too tired to sensor herself at the moment.

Chuck smiled, relief of his own flooding his system. _Take that, Dad._ Though she was still as beautiful as ever, he could tell Sarah hadn't had the best day so far. When he reached out to rub her back her eyes fluttered shut for a moment as if relishing in the small comfort. "Rough day?"

"Oh, you have no idea," she groaned and then pouted. "That woman is a force of nature. I hope there hasn't been a national emergency because I have no clue where my phone has gotten to. Is it wrong for me to wish that there were some major catastrophe or a mission, anything so I could be free of Honey Woodcomb?"

Chuck laughed feeling completely liberated of worry. It wasn't because she didn't want to talk to him, it was because she couldn't. Evidently Honey hadn't given her a moment's peace to call him or anyone for that matter. He leaned down and pressed his lips against hers in a sweet kiss, knowing her question was rhetorical but wanting to give her something else to think of.

Sarah startled but then went with it, feeling all the tension melt away at the gesture. When he tried to sit back, she gripped his loose tie and followed him, keeping her lips sealed against his but not pushing it to become more passionate. With insufficient timing, they shouldn't go down that road anyway regardless of want. Sarah did move from her seat to his, finding his lap to be much more comfortable than leaning over had been. The kiss broke with a sigh and she nuzzled her head into his neck. With her eyes closed, she listened to Chuck's heartbeat, taking comfort in his arms running smoothly against her back. Any second she'd fall asleep so she struck up a conversation. "Can we just stay here forever?"

Chuck let out a quiet laugh. "We could but then Honey would seem like an ice cream sundae after Ellie got through with us."

"Ugh, always the voice of reason." She sighed. "Okay, fine. You win. Let's get this over with." She really was happy for Ellie and Devon but every part of her body called out for rest. When she tried to stand, Chuck held her back.

"Wait a second. We don't have to move just yet." He looked at his watch. "We still have ten minutes before we have to be anywhere. Take a load off."

Sarah smiled and sat back down on his lap. Noticing the undone tie again, she started fixing it up, knowing he was hopeless with a tie. After a few quick flicks, it was done perfectly. She smoothed out the lapels of his coat and rested her elbow on his shoulder for a pillow as she looked up at him. "How's your day?"

"Not nearly as stressful as yours," he said. No sense in bringing up his misplaced insecurities, not now that he didn't feel them any longer. He brushed her bangs away from her face and caressed her cheek with the back of his fingers. "Ellie said you haven't slept."

"Not yet, but I fully intend to get at least an hours worth of shuteye before the reception."

"Oh, no. Stand up. You can sit later. We can't have a bridesmaid or groomsman with wrinkled clothes."

Honey's voice made Sarah involuntarily groan. "Does she have an off switch?" she asked him quietly. Forcibly, she got to her slightly throbbing feet and held out her hand for Chuck to take.

With a smile, he smoothed out his tux, making sure there were no wrinkles, taking Sarah's hand as he addressed Honey. "Crisis averted. No wrinkles," he said warmly.

With a calculating eye, Honey checked over the couple herself for discrepancies. Satisfied there were no wrinkles, she said, "Wipe that lipstick off your mouth and everything will be perfect."

Chuck blushed and rubbed his fingers against his lips. "Yes, ma'am."

As she walked past the couple she clapped her hands together twice. "Hurry, hurry. Seven minutes."

They watched her go in her brisk no-nonsense walk until the dining hall doors closed. Chuck looked to Sarah and said, "Well, I must say, I'm impressed she hasn't encountered one of your knives yet."

Sarah rolled her eyes but smiled, feeling herself catching yet another wind. "I doubt that would be the best way to get back in your sister's good graces."

Chuck grimaced. "Yesterday went that bad, huh?"

Sarah sucked in a breath. "It was . . . okay, I guess. As well as can be expected, considering. She's not happy but we're getting there, I think."

He nodded. "Well, if it's any consolation, she seemed concerned about you when I talked to her."

"Concern isn't quite the same as friendly but I'll take what I can get," she said. "Like Ellie said, it's a start."

Keeping their fingers linked, Chuck put his arm around Sarah's shoulders supportively and guided her to the door. "She'll come around. It just takes time."

"I know," she said easily, ready to take on the challenge. "And we have lots of that, right?"

Deliriously happy, Chuck grinned widely. So she hadn't said those three magical words yet. He could wait. What she'd given him recently had meant so much more. "Yeah, we do, Sarah. Lots of time."

..-. .- - .. .-.. -.- - .- - - . .-. … … - - .-.

Aside from a poor attempt at an impromptu concert by Jeffster, intervened by Woody himself, the wedding went off without a hiccup. Sarah was grateful the photographer knew exactly what she wanted for the pictures of the wedding party so after the ceremony, those had passed quickly. Lunch had been delicious and Sarah finally got to have a nap. She thought for sure she'd only get an hour if she was lucky before Honey would have her running to and fro again to get ready for the reception.

By the time she woke up, though, the reception had already started. She quickly changed back into her dress, wondering why she hadn't been sought after. When she opened her door, she gasped in shock. The courtyard had been transformed completely. It was beautiful. The lights they'd hung shimmered dimly as the sunlight faded from view. The night was warm and comfortable and the guests chatted amorously amongst each other. It hadn't taken her long to spot Chuck. His back was turned to her but with his height and mop of curly hair, he was unmistakable. He was speaking with Casey and Grace. She smiled. Shaking off the last bit of her sleepy haze, Sarah closed the door and went to the refreshment table for a glass of wine.

"Sarah!" a little voice shouted excitedly. "You're here."

Sarah looked down to find Sonia running for her. "Hi, Sonia," she said as little arms wrapped around her legs.

"Guess what? Guess what?" she said, pulling Sarah over to the fountain. The child scrambled to stand on the ledge, minimizing the distance between her and Sarah so she could speak with a perfect mixture of excitement and importance. "My mommy got me a violin."

"Did she?" Sarah questioned. "Well, that's great. But you have to promise to practice everyday, okay?"

"Oh, yes." Sonia nodded very seriously. "I promise."

Sarah smiled. "Good."

"Are you gonna play for Ellie's special day?"

"Ah- well-" she stuttered. "I- I hadn't thought about it, Sonia. I don't think they need me to, though. There's already music playing."

"Oh, okay," she said sadly. "I wanna hear you play."

She rubbed Sonia's head affectionately, "Maybe some day, sweetie." It felt amazing to be able to say that and mean it.

Sonia perked up immediately. "Really?" She jumped down from the fountain and ran off. "I'm gonna tell Mommy."

Sarah shook her head and sat down, taking a sip of her wine. Kids. You give them an inch and they shoot for a mile.

"Hello, beautiful," Chuck said sidling up next to her. "I was just about to come get you. How'd you sleep?"

Sarah's eyes twinkled under the lights as she smiled at him. "Wonderfully, thank you." She leaned over and pecked his lips. "I'm surprised I was allowed to sleep for so long. You didn't happen to have anything to do with that, did you?"

"I may have convinced Honey to use me instead," Chuck said. "Once I pointed out that I was taller, she was all for it."

Sarah laughed and perched her head atop the hand resting on her leg, allowing all her attention to be on Chuck as if that would somehow keep the conversation private. "Well, thanks. I'm touched."

"Oh, no need to thank me," Chuck said, waiving off the statement. "The motivating factors behind the gesture were purely selfish."

Her jaw dropped, mind instantly heading for the gutter. "Oh my. If I'd known about your non-prudish tendencies, Chuck, I would have buckled a long time ago."

With mock annoyance, he threw his hands up. "Why didn't you say anything? It would have saved so much trouble."

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Devon was next to Ellie, talking to some of his frat buddies, reminiscing about the good ol' days. She smiled when she was supposed to though her attention was anywhere but the conversation. She was watching Chuck and Sarah sitting at the fountain solely focused on each other. They had a different vibe about them tonight. It must be because the dark cloud that used to loom above them had gone. Ellie had to admit they were perfect for each other, each one strong enough in different areas to pick up the pieces where the other fell short. The perfect blend of yin and yang.

Ellie took a deep breath and let it out feeling at once relieved and overjoyed. The weight had been removed. She only had to be Chuck's sister now, not his mother as well. It had never been a burden, but it was no longer her place to protect Chuck from everything. Of course she would still protect him, still care for him, still love him, still help him, but it was okay that she was no longer the first person he'd come to with a problem. It was okay that another woman had taken her place as most important. It was okay that that woman was Sarah. Seeing them now, no other woman could've been better. Sarah would do everything Ellie couldn't for Chuck.

This must be what a parent felt when their child left the nest.

When Chuck walked away with both of their glasses in hand, Ellie excused herself and left to go talk to Sarah. "Just woke up?" she asked, carefully sitting down next to her. Truthfully, Ellie was jealous of the flawless look Sarah managed to maintain after sleeping. There wasn't a line on her face from a pillow.

Sarah looked to Ellie with a sheepish smile. "Yeah. I guess Chuck stepped in to help Honey so I wouldn't have to."

Dramatically dropping her head to her hand, Ellie said, "Ugh, she's exhausting, isn't she?"

"That certainly is one word for it." Sarah nodded and jokingly added, "I went with torturous." Realizing that spy humor may not have been the best way to go made her give herself a mental mind slap but when Ellie laughed, her shoulders dropped in relief.

"God, I can't believe this day is finally here," Ellie said, watching all the people around the reception. "Months and months of planning and it all comes down to this."

"How'd it go, do you think? Was it everything you wanted?"

"I think so." Ellie nodded and turned her attention to Sarah. "I really have you to thank for that."

"Me?" Sarah asked with surprise. "Why me?"

Ellie shifted in her seat to face Sarah better. "Chuck told me what you did. Accessing the Government's database."

"Oh it wasn't a big deal," she said bashfully, wishing Chuck had taken the credit. Why did he have to be so noble?

"It was to me," Ellie said quietly. "I realize you may not have been a typical girl that planned out every last detail of her wedding when she was seven, but I did. No matter how I pictured it- whether it was on a beach or in a church- one thing stayed the same: my father was always there to give me away. And then he left, and stopped talking to us and I thought it was a nice dream while I had it." She gave Sarah a meaningful gaze. "The day my father walked in the door, all of the other details became inconsequential again. And I have you to thank for that."

Sarah gave a small, tight smile. "I just wanted you guys to be happy."

"Well thank you," Ellie said, smiling back.

Sarah nodded and spilt her attention between waiting for Ellie to speak and finding Chuck. He'd been gone for a while and she hoped he'd be back soon. She was afraid she'd say something to ruin the shaky balance with Ellie and was loath to begin another dance of one step forward eighty steps back with someone especially now that she was just finding her feet after the first one. She found Chuck at the punch bowl pushing Jeff and Lester to the exit after taking a flask away from Jeff. His head shook crossly as he put the flask in his jacket pocket and then picked up the punch, heading for Casa Woodcomb.

Ellie noticed when Sarah's attention had started to stray. From the open affection she could see on Sarah's face, she knew where the attention had gone and couldn't help but laugh, in part because of her foolishness that she'd ever doubted the love between Chuck and Sarah and in part amusement. Chuck had charmed a deadly woman into a sap.

The laughter made Sarah look around to see what happened. "What?" Seeing nothing amiss, she looked at Ellie. "What happened?"

"I'm sorry," she said through snickers, eyes filled with mirth. "I'm sorry. It's just- you are so whipped."

Sarah's brow furrowed. "Excuse me?"

"It's true. Chuck's been gone for what couldn't be more than five minutes and you're already looking for him to come back."

Sarah shifted self-consciously. "I don't understand why that's funny."

"It's funny because you, Sarah Walker, spy extraordinaire, the very definition of independence and ambition, are reduced to a normal girl by a boy." Sarah's head tilted in confusion and Ellie, now calm, clarified, "Even though you can take care of yourself in every way imaginable- some of which I don't even want to try to think about- at the end of the day, you want someone to belong to."

"Is-" she began unsurely, "that a bad thing?"

Ellie shook her head. "Not at all. It's a wonderful thing. It means you're not as untouchable or hard to relate to as I thought. We all have idealized conceptions of what people of certain professions are like but knowing something as mundane as a guy makes you gushy brings you back to reality."

Her furrow deepened. "So then it's okay that I'm with Chuck?"

Ellie put her hand on Sarah's forearm. "It's more than okay."

Sarah looked at Ellie's hand on her arm for a second. Ellie's words left her cautiously optimistic but why the abrupt change? "You decided that just now? What changed?"

Ellie rolled her eyes. She was starting to see the difficulties Chuck must have had trying to get Sarah to accept something as fact. "Sarah, I realized that for the past two years the feelings I saw you had for Chuck were never a lie. The events surrounding feelings may have mucked it up a bit but they were always there. And I never should have doubted that." She gripped Sarah's arm tightly, making Sarah look at her. "I want what's best for Chuck. So long as that's you, and I think it is, then I'm going to support you."

"Really?"

"Yes. I want you to feel like you can come to me when you have questions. I want to help you do this right."

Sarah let a shaky breath of relief. "Oh thank god because I could really use your help. I meant it when I said I had no clue what I was doing."

Ellie smiled at the slight franticness in Sarah's voice. "Don't stress yourself too much. From what I can see, I think you're doing just fine."

"Doing just fine with what?" Chuck asked, sitting on the other side of Sarah and handing her a now full glass of wine.

"Bridesmaids duties," Ellie covered looking around Sarah to Chuck. If Chuck and Devon could be thick as thieves, then why not her and Sarah?

"Ah, yes." He nodded, picking up nothing wrong with the explanation. "But Sarah's good at everything she does," he said, bumping his shoulder against hers.

Sarah blushed as she took a sip of her wine and Ellie smiled. It was time for her to get out of there. "Well," she slapped her legs, "so many people, so little time." She got to her feet and bid the couple adieu. "Have a great time, guys, and I'll come find you before we have to go."

"Okay. Don't worry about the clean up, El. We'll take care of it." Chuck waited until Ellie was far enough away to whisper to Sarah. "So, the two of you alone and no hair pulling. Am I to take that to mean things are good between you guys?"

Sarah nodded, "Yeah." She smiled as she watched Ellie effortlessly strike up a conversation with her father and Devon as if nothing had changed. Ellie would have made an excellent spy, but like Chuck, she had too big a heart to do the dirty side of the job. And that's just fine with Sarah. "I think we're good." She held up her glass and looked at Chuck. "Thanks for this, by the way."

"Nah, don't worry about it," Chuck said scrunching his nose and shaking his head. He leaned closer to Sarah and whispered with utmost importance, "I don't know how many weddings you've been to . . . but getting a bridesmaid drunk and having your way with her is a pretty universal fantasy."

Sarah laughed and shook her head, then decided to have fun of her own. "How set are you on a drunk bridesmaid? Because Kara is well on her way. I'm sure I could put in a good word for you."

"No, no," Chuck said. "No. I've already got my eye, literally, on the bridesmaid in question."

"Oh, I see. Well, this bridesmaid," she said pointing to herself, "takes a lot of alcohol to get drunk. So if you have your heart set on that, I think you might have your work cut out for you."

Chuck audibly sucked in air through his teeth. "Drunk is negotiable," he said, nodding. "The bridesmaid, however, is not."

"Huh." Sarah nodded, pretending to consider her options while biting her lip and looking down at the almost full glass of wine. Throwing caution to the wind, she knocked back the glass and downed all the liquid. "Ahhh," she said, the glass pinging off the fountain as she put it down. She might regret that later. She looked at Chuck sitting with his jaw dropped looking at her in awe. She smiled and said, "Take this bridesmaid for a spin on the dance floor and you've got yourself a deal."

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Hey all! Thanks for reading. Had to dodge a few bullets after last chapter but thanks so much for not killing me, lol. Hopefully the pay off was worth it. I mean, you didn't really think Sarah would say no, right? Thanks for sticking with me and for all your patience. The next chapter may be a little later than usual because I'm moving. I don't anticipate much later though. (promise it won't be like when I was on the ship)

Thanks for all your help and beta-ing, Bill. You're a rock star!


	31. Chapter 31

Hey guys. Thanks for your patience. It's been a wild ride since I moved and this chapter sorta kicked my ass. I hope there's a good balance between the heavy and the fluff because lots of things happen in this chapter. I hope you enjoy it.

Thanks to all who've read, reviewed, alerted and favorited. And thank you, Bill, for all your help.

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Chapter Thirty-One

"My god, you're amazing."

Chuck laughed breathlessly but continued to kiss along Sarah's collarbone, biting down where her shoulder meets her neck. "I think I must concur with you." Realizing how that sounded, he stopped- much to Sarah's dismay- and his eyes shot to hers. "I- I mean, not me or anything. I was- you." He reddened with embarrassment and then looked anywhere but at Sarah. "I was- I was talking about you. You're amazing too."

A slow grin spread across Sarah's face at his bumbling. "Chuck," she said, grabbing his face to make him look at her. Her eyes roamed hungrily over him as she licked her lips. "I really think you should continue what you were doing."

Chuck smiled. "I think that can be arranged." He leaned down, gladly picking up right where he left off. "You know what else I think?"

Sarah's eyes fluttered shut as she ran her fingers through his hair. God, she loved it! It was just so _grab-_able with its funny animal shapes and chocolaty color. "What?"

"I'm thinking we need to work on our ratio."

"R-ratio?" Sarah could hardly form the word. _How can he think while he's doing that?_

"Mmhmm," he said, not stopping his actions. "You see, we've made love three times," a kiss, "Once on the beach," a kiss and a lick, "once in a closet," a kiss, a lick and a suckle, "and once in our bed. You know, that's one time out of three- thirty-three point three percent- in a traditional setting." He pulled himself up so he could look her in the face, the flush making her even more beautiful. He waggled his eyebrows, a teasing smile on his lips. "Makes us pretty wild, right?"

All the numbers he'd spouted out flew right over her head. It was only when she noticed he'd stopped kissing her that she opened her eyes to see him hovering above. "And that's bad?" she questioned blandly, wishing he'd stop talking and continue what he'd been doing.

He shook his head slightly. "I never said that." Finding the temptation irresistible, he bent down and kissed her lips. Sarah moaned appreciatively and then in protest when he broke away. "I'm just thinking we wouldn't want to get a reputation."

Done with the teasing, Sarah hooked her leg around his hip and rolled so she'd be on top. "Come on, Chuck." She ground her hips against his. "Live dangerously."

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"Good morning, sunshine. How ya feelin'?" Ethan asked keeping his tone light, knowing Eve would prefer easy conversation.

"Oh, I'm batting a thousand, you know," Eve said tiredly but smiling. "Haven't thrown up yet."

"Ah," Ethan grinned and held up Eve's breakfast tray, "well, here's hoping this doesn't change anything." He'd taken the tray from the orderly so he could give it to her. "It's not steak and potatoes but the cook assured me it tastes fine." He set the tray on the rolling table and brought it up to where Eve would be able to reach it.

"Fine?" Eve's brow rose. "Well, that's just what I want to hear about my food," she joked. Since he was still wearing his jacket and messenger bag, Eve supposed he must have just gotten in. The fact that he came to see her first thing left a warm burn in her chest. "Thanks for bringing it, though."

"You're welcome." Ethan pulled his bag over his head and put it on the chair. "Want some company for breakfast?"

"Sure." Eve scooted up and moved her tray over so he'd have space on the table. "So, if I get bland, what are you having?"

Ethan pulled out a breakfast bar, a banana, and bottled water. "I get slightly less bland than you."

Eve shrugged. "Your choice."

"It is," he said with a nod. Ethan opened the package to his breakfast bar. "But I didn't want to eat something you couldn't."

"Meh, I'm used to it at this point. But thank you," she said and Ethan nodded, swallowing a chunk of his breakfast bar before actually chewing it causing him to choke a little. Eve furrowed her brow in half-serious disapproval. "Well, don't kill yourself."

Ethan took a drink of his water and laughed. "No worries. I've got a lot to live for."

She nodded and smiled. "Me too." It was as much as she felt safe to give him at this point.

He looked away and blushed, a surge of pride swelling in his chest. Nothing much had changed since he'd told her he loved her. They were still friends, maybe even better friends now, even though she hadn't reciprocated the sentiment. He'd understood why. She didn't know if she had a tomorrow let alone a next year and saying 'I'm in love with you' was a lot to promise someone when there was a huge window of uncertainty. He just hoped that someday she would let her walls fall; that someday she would allow herself to feel something for him.

Little did he know, the process had already begun.

He brushed some crumbs off Eve's blanket and cleared his throat, offering a new subject. "So I talked to Erin today."

_Erin? _Eve's eyes narrowed as she searched for who the person was. "Your sister, right?"

"Mhm. She's off of work this afternoon if you were wanting to . . . um-"

"Shave my head?" Eve asked knowingly and Ethan nodded. "Its okay, Ethan, you can talk about it."

Half of his mouth lifted. "I wasn't sure if it was something you still wanted to do."

"Well, I don't particularly _want_ to do it but I don't have much choice in the matter. The hair's going whether I'd like it to or not." Her shoulders tensed and she exhaled, pushing as mush distaste away as possible. "If it doesn't put her out, let's do it."

The second half of his mouth lifted to form a tight smile but he didn't say anything. He put his hand overtop of hers and gave it a quick squeeze. This was hard for her and if in any way he could make it easier, he would.

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A more than blissful morning in bed Sarah was left with a permanent barely there blush that deepened any time she thought about it. Chuck needn't worry about ratios and numbers any more. They were well on their way to being squared away. She was having a great time making up for all the missed opportunities over the past two years. He kept her on her toes in ways she'd never experienced before, and not just with sex. It was everything. He made her feel like the most special person in the world and, after her little epiphany the other day, that scared her much less than it used to.

Sarah walked the hallway of the hospital, each click of her heel echoing in the empty space. She'd just finished having her blood drawn and decided to stop by Evie's room to check on her before she left. Though she had no intention of speaking to her, Sarah wanted to see for herself that Evie was okay. Evie didn't want anything to do with her and she would respect that even if it hurt.

It made Sarah feel foolish- needing to stand outside the door like some sort of peeping Tom- but being here was more comfort than she'd had in the last twenty years. The steady beep of the monitors filled the still room, soft but reassuring. Evie rested quietly on her bed, thankfully with no visitor's present. Trisha might see it as an intrusion if she found Sarah there so Sarah was glad no one was present to see. The two women had come to a sort of understanding about Sarah helping Evie, but that didn't mean Trisha wouldn't be a momma bear when it came to Evie's feelings.

Suddenly Eve rolled and reached for her bowl but ended up tumbling to the floor. She pushed up a little and started to throw up on the floor. Without thinking it over, Sarah rushed to her side. She could deal with Evie being angry later. Right now she needed help. Sarah grabbed the bowl from the table putting it beneath Evie and helped support her weight while she retched. After a few dry heaves it seemed it was over.

"Come on," Sarah adjusted her feet and looped her arms under Evie's, "Let's get you in bed." Eve was practically dead weight though she tried to help as best she could. Sarah settled Eve under the covers and pulled out a water bottle from her bag. She spun off the cap and held out the bottle for Eve to take a drink. "Here," she said. Eve took the bottle away from Sarah instead of letting her help. Saddened, Sarah grabbed the bowl from the floor and put it under Eve's mouth. Eve weakly swished the water around her mouth and spit into the bowl. "Take another sip. It'll help get the taste out of your mouth." Sarah side-stepped the mess to put the bowl back on the table, taking a moment to prepare for Eve's anger before she turned around.

Eve watched Sarah's movement around the room, noting the slight pause Sarah took before she turned around. She seemed ready to flinch at whatever Eve's next words would be. But Eve wasn't upset that she'd come. She was too tired to be anything but grateful. Today was not a good day for her. As she held out the bottle to Sarah, her arm trembled with exertion. "Thanks."

Sarah's lips tightened with an attempt to smile and she held up her hand. "You can keep it. It's fresh, I promise."

Eve pulled her hand back, practically dropping the bottle on the bed next to her hip and falling back heavily against the pillows. Refusing Sarah's help while taking the drink had more to do with Eve reasserting her independence than who was helping her. Had it been her mother or Grams, even Uncle Casey, she would have done the same thing.

Sarah watched Eve struggle through the simple task, wanting nothing more than to help but she was too afraid to overstep her boundaries. Instead, she occupied her hands by wringing them together. Eve wasn't kicking her out so, so far, it was a win in her book. "Um, I'll let them know about the . . . mess," she said and Eve nodded. "Do you need anything else?"

"I'm fine, thanks," she said strongly, feeling a pick up in her energy.

"O-okay." Sarah nodded, standing awkwardly away from the bed. She'd have to take at least a step and a half more to really be next to Eve. She wanted to close that distance both physically and emotionally but she knew that Eve had to make the first move. Sarah opened and closed her mouth a few times wondering what to say. Eve didn't seem too interested in continuing the conversation so she said, "Well, I'm just- I'm gonna-"

"I can't just forgive and forget, you know?" She looked at Sarah momentarily before pulling at a loose thread on her sheet. "Logically, I'm aware you were only nine, but emotionally . . ." she sucked in a shaky breath through her nose, her jaw quivering, "I can't help but feel abandoned and I just- I need time and I hope I have enough of it left-" she choked back a sob, blinking rapidly to try to keep the tears from falling, "because I miss you."

Sarah bit down on her cheek, her own attempt to keep from crying. "I miss you, too." She itched to move closer but Eve said she wanted time leaving Sarah unsure of what to do. Should she give Evie a hug? Should she stay where she is? Should she leave?

What happens now?

"Hey-" Ethan stopped short, realizing Eve had company. And not just anyone, but her sister. For two women who hadn't grown up together, they certainly shared a similar response to his interruption. Both of them straightened and sniffled, blinking quickly to mask the tears. Even their jaws ticked in the same way. "Oh, um, s-sorry. I'll, uh- I'll give you guys a minute."

"No, no. Its fine," Sarah said, surprised that anything could pass through the tightness in her throat. "I was just leaving." She brushed the back of her hand across her mouth before reaching in her pocket and pulling out a business card. She took that step and a half closer to Evie, the card making a small snap as it came into contact with the table. Eve's eyes followed Sarah's arm to meet her gaze. Sarah swallowed, feeling her eyes begin to sting. "Just in case." Eve chewed on her lower lip contemplatively before nodding slowly. Only then did Sarah turn on her heel to leave, muttering something about the mess as she passed Ethan in the doorway.

Blindly, she made her way down the hall, through the doors and out to the parking lot. She didn't make eye contact with anyone, she didn't stop to hold the door open, she didn't apologize to the woman she'd accidentally bumped into on her way out. Nothing registered with her except the need to escape. Her composure was hanging on by a thread and a thin one at that.

Sarah made it to her car, unlocking the door but not opening it. She leaned heavily against the car, both hands pressed against the roof, shutting her eyes tightly in an effort to control the emotions churning within her. After taking several deep breaths, Sarah's eyes opened slowly only to see her despaired reflection staring back at her from the tinted window. Her eyes adjusted to see beyond that to object itself and rage burst through her. She wouldn't have this car if it wasn't for the CIA. She wouldn't be in the CIA if it wasn't for her father. And if wasn't for her father she wouldn't have left her sister.

Suddenly it was like her car represented everything wrong with her life. It represented everything she lost, the person she was forced to become, the life she was never allowed to have and she broke- repeatedly kicking the driver side door over and over and over again, grunting with infuriated frustration until all her energy was spent and she could do nothing but slide to the asphalt, her body wrecked with sobs, fists clenched so tightly she was sure she'd draw blood as she leaned heavily against the symbol of her contempt, ironically relying upon it to keep upright.

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Ethan cleaned up the mess and washed out Eve's bowl, passing concerned glances her way every once in a while. He wondered what happened. Eve hadn't wanted anything to do with her sister and Sarah seemed keen on respecting that. So how did the two of them wind up in the same room? Ethan watched Eve as she stared out the window for a few moments, a far off look in her eye. "Uh, Eve?"

"Hm?"

He cleared his throat. "Do I- um, is there any reason- what I mean is, should I put Sarah on the list of people not permitted in here?"

"No, please don't," she answered quickly.

For a moment Ethan was taken aback at how tremendously scared Eve looked. Rather than commenting on it, he said, "Okay, I won't." He exhaled thoughtfully. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Eve shook her head and looked at the card sitting on the table. She brought her hand up to reach for it but hesitated. As much as she didn't want to admit it, there was still a part of her that was that little girl waiting for her sister to come reassure her that everything would be alright. With a sigh, she grasped the tiny, thick paper in her hand feeling a mixture of disappointment and relief at how much comfort it brought her.

Someone knocked on the door and Eve hid the card under her leg in case it was someone from her family. She wanted to keep this to herself for now. Well, Ethan knew, too, but she figured he'd know not to say anything. He was pretty good at knowing things like that. She shook off her haze and put up her mask while Ethan got the door.

"Hey, Erin, come on in."

"Hey," she said stepping into the room, "Sorry I didn't wait. Georgina said I could find you here."

"Sure, sure. No worries." Ethan looked back to Eve and nervously wiped his hands down his pant legs. "Uh, Eve this is my sister, Erin. Erin this is Eve- ah, Evelyn Fisher."

Erin smiled awestruck, staring wide-eyed at Eve. Eve was smiling back but started to get uncomfortable as the silence dragged on and her eyes slipped over to Ethan. The movement shook Erin from her stupor. "Wow- I, uh, I'm sorry. I'm just a little star-struck." She cleared her throat and extended her hand willing herself to become more professional. "It's nice to meet you."

Eve reached out and grabbed her hand. "It's nice to meet you, too. Ethan's told me a lot about you."

She nodded and her blush deepened. "Same with you. He talks about you all the time."

Ethan cleared his throat embarrassed. "Okay, well that's enough of that." He clapped his hands once and looked at Erin. "Haircuts. That's what you're here for." He moved the chair to the middle of the room and sat down. "Shall we?"

Erin laughed at her brother and started to pull out her supplies. "Oh, Ethan, I cannot wait to tell Emma that her big, bad Uncle has a crush."

He shook his head, a tiny smile on his lips. "Shut up, Erin." There was no use denying it. It wasn't like Eve didn't already know it anyway.

Eve smiled. She thought Ethan was cute when he was embarrassed. Well, she thought he was cute all the time but particularly so in this moment.

Erin kept an amused grin as she shook out the smock from her bag, fastening it around her brother's neck. She took a picture for a before and after shot and then got to work on shaving his head.

Eve sat quietly while listening to the sibling's poke fun at each other, sometimes offering a statement here or there. As enjoying as it was to watch them banter back and forth, the downside was that it showed her how much she missed out on with her own sister. She had a few memories of what it was like before Sarah left and she could see glimpses of how they could've turned out like Ethan and Erin. But the majority of her memories were from after Sarah had gone and those were . . . less than stellar and that was being optimistic.

Sooner than she'd like, it was her turn. Ethan helped her from the bed and into the chair. Truth be told, she was starting to feel it from the fall she'd taken before so she didn't even try to discourage his assistance. Erin took a before and after picture for her as well and then once her hair was gone, a picture of both of them together. They both did a great job keeping her spirits up despite the situation and she found the afternoon to be semi-entertaining. Ethan helped get her settled back in bed, pressing a kiss to her cheek on his way out to eat with Erin.

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Chuck nervously clutched the strap of his bag. He could feel the sheen of sweat covering his hands. Sarah would be so angry if she found out he didn't go straight back to the 'safety' of the Buy More after his NerdHerder call. It's just that the hospital was on the way back to work and he didn't know when or if he'd get another chance to stop by alone. He had to talk to Eve. He had to get her talk to Sarah. It was important.

Trying to be as inconspicuous as possible, he followed the hall, scanning the faces of passer's by to make sure no one he knew was around. As he came around the corner, the door to his destination opened. Chuck jumped back, counting to three before peeking around the corner. Fortunately, the woman and a male nurse walked in the opposite direction down the hall. Chuck let out a relieved breath, willing his heart rate to slow as he moved closer to the door. Peeking around the frame, he found the lone patient awake trying to tie a bandana around her head. He could see her arms shake as she pulled the ends. He straightened and asked, "Need a hand?" The words were out of his mouth before he could think about them.

Eve warily looked up at the man at the door. She recognized him from somewhere but couldn't quite place it. Though his presence didn't make her feel threatened, she glanced down out of the corner of her eye to make sure the call button for the nurse was within reach. It was. With her arms weary, she brought her hands down bringing the blue bandana with them after unsuccessfully trying to tie the knot. "I'm sorry. Do I know you?"

Chuck's eyes widened and his jaw dropped slowly. It was the first time he'd seen a woman bald. He blinked and looked away for a second, swallowing as he worked to regain his composure. "Ah, wel-well, kinda. I saw you- once- through the window. I, um . . . I'm Chuck Bartowski."

Recognition came to Eve and she nodded. "Right, Uncle Casey's asset." He smiled and nodded awkwardly at her acknowledgement. Realizing his discomfort at her lack of hair, she held out her bandana to him as a sort of peace offering. "A little help would be nice, thank you."

Chuck's shoulders dropped and he let out a breath. "Sure." He glanced down the hall one last time before stepping closer, shaking his head at himself as he took the cloth from her, disappointed that he didn't do a good enough job of hiding his shock. "Uh, I'm sorry for staring. I've never-"

"It's okay." She smiled understandingly. "Shocked me the first time, too."

Chuck returned the smile, fiddling with the bandana in his hands to straighten the edges. "Look at the bright side, though," he said covering her head with the cloth, "it won't take you nearly as long to get ready now."

Eve laughed, feeling set at ease. His comment made her see exactly what Uncle Casey had meant about Chuck Bartowski. "That's very true. Guess that means there really is a silver lining to everything, huh?" After he finished tightening the knot, she patted her head to make sure the bandana felt right. "Thanks."

"You're welcome." He cleared his throat. "Uh, so Casey- he's told you about me?"

"Yeah, some things," she answered vaguely, clearly not intending to elaborate.

"Oh. Well that's good, I guess." Chuck took the chair next to Eve's bed, moving his messenger bag to sit on his lap. "So, um . . . how are you doing?"

Eve laughed dully. "Well aren't you just the sharpest tool in the shed? You know, I expected more from you." She turned away from Chuck to stare at the ceiling, suddenly feeling very tired. "Sorry. That was kinda mean."

Chuck shrugged it off. "Hey, no worries, I get it. You are related to Casey in a manner of speaking and I haven't had his jabs for a while so you know," he clicked his tongue, "get 'em in while it's easy." Eve hummed a laugh and it was as if he could literally see the energy seep out of her body. Even the simplest of things took a lot out of her. He shifted uncomfortably in his seat, trying to think of the best segue into this to make it quick. Of course, there was always the option of coming back later. _No, Chuck. You're hardly ever without supervision of some kind._

Eve could see him squirming and decided to take pity on him. "Let me guess. You're here about your girlfriend." He had to be. She meant a lot to Chuck and Eve figured he wouldn't let this go without saying something first so she'd kind of been expecting this for a while now. Uncle Casey had told her all about their dance for the past two years. Honestly, she'd been rooting for them long before she met them and learned who Sarah was. The circumstances didn't change the fact that Eve still wanted them together and happy.

"That obvious, huh?"

Weakly, she held up her thumb and forefinger an inch apart. "Little bit." She waited for him to say something but he didn't speak. She could see the wheels moving in his head as if the conversation was unplanned. To fill the silence, she asked, "Did she ask you to come?"

"No," Chuck shook his head, "no, she didn't." He chuckled as he thought of how she'd react. "Actually, she'll probably be mad if she finds out I came. She's really trying to respect your wishes." He shifted forward in his seat. "I just think that she deserves at least one conversation with you. To get you both some closure or something." He licked his lips thoughtfully, hoping to get his point across. "If you give her a chance, I believe that you'll find Sarah didn't mean to leave you, that if she had a choice, she would have stayed or taken you with them, I know it. Sarah is the greatest person I know. She brings so much joy to my life. I love her with everything I have and to see her hurting so much makes me sad, you know? Because I want to give her everything she wants and more. She won't admit it but loosing you was the hardest thing- she's dedicated years to searching for you-"

"She looked for me?"

"Ah, yeah." He nodded, surprised to learn that Eve didn't know. "Yeah, she did. Um," Chuck reached into his messenger bag and pulled out Sarah's Eve file and put it on the TV table in front of Eve. _Good thing I thought to bring this._ "Here."

With renewed strength, Eve sat up and opened the folder, eager to see the evidence that she hadn't been forgotten, that she hadn't been pushed off to the wayside. The first thing she saw was the picture from the last day they were together on the beach. With a watery smile, she reached out her hand and trailed her fingers across the picture, memories flooding her mind. "I remember this day. We both got fried to a crisp. Mom called us lobster impersonators when we got home." She looked up at Chuck. "She got a call that night and they were gone the next day." Eve sniffled and willed the tears back as she flipped through the other pages. There were addresses, names, dates, schools, medical records. Things were crossed out and cross referenced. There was a timeline of everything from the day she left to the day Eve was adopted. Pages were dog eared, some had coffee stains- it all looked well used, like it was looked through often.

Chuck kept a somber and supportive smile on for her. He knew what it was like to wake up one morning, expecting to find someone there only to learn that they were gone. And then day after day, night after night, praying they'd come back, wishing that you could see them one last time to ask them why you weren't enough, why they left, to ask them what went wrong. All he wanted was closure. He'd finally gotten that with his dad thanks to Sarah. She deserved the same chance with her sister. "She never forgot about you, Eve," Chuck said almost like a promise. "And I'm just hoping you can give her a chance. Family is important, it's special. If I told you all the things my sister has done for me, we'd be here until the next century and I know Sarah will do the same for you, because when she decides to do something, there's no changing her mind. She's as stubborn as they come."

Eve gave a quick laugh at the almost annoyed tone he'd used. He was right, though, when her sister made a choice, she stuck to it. It was a trait they both shared. A trait you either loved or hated depending on the circumstances.

Chuck smiled, pausing to see if Eve would speak but her focus remained on the folder. Once a few more moments of silence passed, he said, "She comes here everyday, you know?"

Eve nodded. "And watches me from the window. I usually pretend to be asleep. Sometimes I really am, but most of the time I know she's there." A mere ten minutes ago, she'd hated how much comfort knowing her sister was watching had given her. But with this new information, Eve felt the weight of her sorrow being removed. Just knowing she hadn't been forgotten and having proof that it was true changed everything, mending her broken heart in ways that words alone wouldn't have been able to do.

Chuck watched Eve deep in thought. He'd given her a lot to think about but if nothing came of it, then he'd try again before Sarah's surgery. "Well, I should probably go before someone finds me here. Just please, give her a chance. She's incredible and I don't want you to miss out. I really wish I could come up with something less mediocre to explain it, but-"

Eve gave a small shake of her head. "I think you did okay," she said. She took one last look at the picture on the cover before closing the folder and looking at Chuck again. "Can I hang on to this? I wanna look over it some more."

Chuck nodded and smiled. "Of course." He stood up and walked to the door. Before leaving he looked back to Eve. "I really do hope you get better, Eve."

"Thanks, Chuck. Really." Eve waited for the door to latch before she dug for the business card Sarah had given her. It was simple and plain. Just her name, Sarah Walker, and her number. She sighed and put the card in the folder.

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Once Sarah had gotten home, she knew she should have called Chuck but she doubted her ability to maintain her composure. Even if she managed to keep it, Chuck would still know something was wrong- one of those stupid little annoying knacks he had and she wanted to wallow alone for a while longer. Besides that, she'd done enough crying around him over the past few days to last her a lifetime. As much as he wouldn't judge, as much as he wouldn't mind, she was getting fed up with it. She wanted to come to terms with this on her own first despite the fact that she still had every intention of telling him anyway. Hopefully taking the time to tackle it alone would help her to not cry when she did.

Sarah lied on the couch drifting in and out of sleep but never quite reaching that REM state. Her dreams passed more like memories, small glimpse into her past of the days around the time she left. Each time she woke, the clock mocked her attempts at sleep showing that no more than twenty minutes had passed each time. She gave a frustrated sigh, seeing that sleep with actual rest wouldn't come any time soon, and got up. She went to the bathroom and washed her face with cold water to help wake her up some.

Wanting to keep her mind occupied, she decided to make dinner. After looking through the cupboards, she chose spaghetti. It was simple enough and quick. It would be nothing like the spaghetti Ellie could make. Of course, nothing Sarah made would be like Ellie's but at least they wouldn't starve. Chuck should be home in forty-five minutes which would be plenty of time to fix it up. Sarah had just put a pot of water on to boil and was getting the meat for the sauce when the door opened.

"Hey, beautiful."

Sarah glanced behind her before turning her attention back to the stove. Any time he called her beautiful, she couldn't help but smile. "Hi. You're home early."

Chuck dropped his keys in the bowl next to the door and hung up his jacket, leaving his messenger bag on the floor. "Yeah, I had to work through lunch because Jeff and Lester were being . . . well, Jeff and Lester."

"Say no more, I completely understand."

Chuck walked up behind Sarah, wrapping his arms around her middle and kissing the side of her head. "Something smells nice. Whatcha makin'?"

"Spaghetti." She shrugged. "Nothing special." Sarah put down the spatula and lowered the heat on the stove but turned up the heat another way, giving him a proper welcome home kiss. Maybe it was a little for her comfort too but in any case, it was just what she needed.

"Whoa," Chuck said with a hint of astonishment as the kiss broke, blushing sheepishly. "I could get used to that." Sarah smiled and he bent down to kiss her again. Giving her one last squeeze before letting go, he immediately started to help with dinner by putting the noodles in the pot of now boiling water. "So how was your appointment? I thought you'd call."

The smile slowly slipped off her face. "Uh, the appointment went fine."

When she'd retreated to grab something from the refrigerator, Chuck knew he'd said something wrong. Stopping what he was doing, he put all of his attention on Sarah. "Okay, and?" he prompted.

Sarah grabbed a bottle of wine that had been opened last night at the reception and hopped up on the bar. They needed to finish it before it went bad. She pulled out the cork and knocked back a long sip. Chuck went to stand between her legs, waiting for her answer. Sarah concentrated on the bottle, thinking of her words carefully before looking up at Chuck. She sighed. "I talked to Evie today."

Chuck nodded but remained silent, rubbing her legs. He figured, or at least hoped, that their conversation was before his with Eve because if anything he'd done or said made Sarah feel this bad, he wished he could take it away.

"I went to check on her and she fell off her bed so I helped her." Sarah picked at the label on the bottle, withdrawing in thought for a moment. "She said she misses me but she needs time to work through some things and hopefully she has enough of it."

"But that's good, right? She's working on it. At least it's a possibility now."

Sarah nodded, glad he could find a positive view, though it didn't keep her negative side from coming out. "Yeah, but what if there isn't time? What if the transplant doesn't work?"

Chuck sucked in a breath. "That is also a possibility, yes," he said. "But I choose to have faith."

"I've never really put much stock in faith."

He gave her a solemn smile and ran one hand down her hair. "Yeah, I know." Chuck dropped his forehead to hers, hoping to offer some strength. "No matter what happens, Sarah, I will always be in your corner."

Sarah returned his smile with a small one of her own. "I know." Putting the bottle on the counter, she brought both of her hands up to tilt his face toward hers, pressing her lips against his. Her hands slid down to his chest, pushing him back lightly. "You're the most amazing boyfriend a girl could ever ask for."

Chuck shrugged. "As long as there's only one asking," he joked.

"Well, there may be more than one asking but there better only be one you're answering to," she said, poking him in the chest.

Chuck frowned and rubbed his chest. "Hey, I thought it was implied that I'm an honest guy."

"You are- tall, dark, caring, smart, sexy, irresistible," she listed, bringing her arms back up to be around his neck, using her legs to pull him closer, "but most importantly honest."

Chuck blushed for the second time that night. He changed their embrace from being one sided into a hug and let out a sigh groan. "Oh, you better be careful, Miss Walker, flattery will get you everywhere." Sarah giggled and he tilted his head to kiss her cheek. "Mwah." In sync as ever, the two pulled apart and went back to work on dinner, Sarah to the meat and Chuck to the noodles. He stirred the pot with one hand and rubbed her back with the other. They worked quietly for a moment before Chuck broke the silence. "So what happened to your car?" he asked, his face scrunched with curiosity. The damage was just in one spot so he decided not to freak out until he asked.

Her brow rose. "Oh . . . um . . . well, I was a little . . . upset after talking to Evie-"

"And you took it out on your car- your beautiful, beautiful car?" Chuck shook his head in mock reproach. "I never thought I'd see the day."

"Why? It's just a car," she said, grabbing the can opener out of the drawer and making her way to the pantry. "At the time it made sense, although now I'm not looking forward to getting it fixed."

"You could leave it the way it is. You know, add some character or whatever. At least, that's what Ellie told me scars do."

Sarah grabbed the can of sauce from the pantry. "Yeah, no, I'll be getting it fixed."

"Oh, fine. Have fun with that bill." He leaned over the steam, assessing the noodles with a frown. "How do you tell if these are done?"

"Throw the noodles at the wall." Chuck gave her an odd look and she shrugged. "What? That's what my dad said."

"You're sure he doesn't just like having food fights?"

"Oh, no, not usually. He only started one to make the register unattended so he could get the money and slip out the back."

"Seriously? You guys did that?"

Sarah laughed. "No, but it's a great idea."

Chuck laughed and shook his head. "Oh, Sarah, you get closer to a cannibal each day." He picked up a noodle and threw it at the wall.

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Stephen sat at the deck table outside Ellie's apartment nursing a bottle of beer. Ellie knew that he wouldn't be leaving until he finished the program to remove the Intersect from Chuck's head and had asked him to watch their apartment while she and Devon went on their honeymoon. Her argument had been that it would give him the quiet he'd need to finish but he had the sinking suspicion that the request was made to give Chuck and Agent Walker time alone together. Now, he was stuck sharing an apartment with the woman holding his family in the palm of her hand because she hadn't left yet.

Chuck had gotten home moments ago. It was only after he had gone inside that Stephen decided to come out. The night was warm and he could use a break from his project. Perhaps he was being nosy but he wanted to keep an eye on this agent his son's involved with and Chuck wasn't talking to him so he had to resort to spying. The open blinds offered him a semi-unobstructed view into the apartment. They were in the kitchen, cooking dinner. Sarah moved to the counter, carrying a bottle of wine and Chuck followed.

Seeing the bottle reminded him of his drink and Stephen took a sip of his beer, watching Chuck put his arms on either side of Walker's legs, comforting her over something he was sure was fabricated. She played that needy card perfectly. He shook his head, looking up to the sky. The sun hadn't quite set yet and it remnants left the sky bathed in purple and gold. It made him miss his trailer on the hill. No buildings to block the stars, no smog to affect the colors of the sunset. Complete solitude. Maybe that's what he missed most. He was never much for being around people.

He took another sip, once again looking into his son's apartment. They did make a cute couple, even he had to admit that. But there was no way things could work out for them. There were too many odds stacked against them. It was a lot to hope for that Chuck realize he should get out; that Agent Walker was bad news any way you looked at it. He couldn't let his son make the same mistakes that he did.

"She really loves him, you know."

Stephen turned to find General Beckman standing next to the front door, briefcase in hand. He took another sip, looking back to the apartment. "You should've reassigned her."

Beckman straightened, carefully regarding Mr. Bartowski. _Back on this kick again, I see. _With the little she knew about his past, or rather Orion's past, there was one inference she could make in regards to why he was so against his child's happiness. "Is this about your wife?" she asked. By the way he scoffed and shook his head, she knew it was true. Sighing, Beckman went to the table and took the seat across from him. "They're two different people. There's no guarantee that Sarah would make the same choice-"

"And there's no guarantee she won't," he interrupted sternly but hopefully not loud enough to draw attention. "No matter how much she loves him, it will never be enough. Chuck needs a normal girl, not some secret agent. After everything, he shouldn't have to worry if another person will leave him."

"He's not the thirteen year old boy you left. He's a good man with a good head on his shoulders. You should be proud."

"I am- I am proud. He's a much better man than I could hope to be. But that doesn't change that she's been trained to manipulate and control. I mean look at her, she's got the act down pat. That's not something he should have to deal with. He should be allowed the security to know that not everyone will leave him, to know that not everyone will look for something better."

"And who says that Sarah won't give him that? Respectfully, Mr. Bartowski, you've not seen the lengths to which these two will go for each other. Frankly, I don't think we've even seen the lengths that they would go. Being an agent is only part of who she is."

"Oh, please."

Beckman rolled her eyes, looking at the couple for a moment before looking back to Stephen. "She does love him, Mr. Bartowski. And whether you like it or not, they are together."

"They'll get over it."

"Get over- Stephen, it's not some infatuation you get over," she admonished. "They're in love with each other."

"You should have stopped it."

"There are some things you cannot stop," she said. "Agent Walker has always been the best agent to protect the Intersect. Even when we tried to replace her, she still ended up being the one to save him. And don't tell me I should have reassigned her before then. After the replacement Intersect blew, discretion was paramount." She sighed. "Above all else, those two are friends, which was never against the rules. It's because of who your son is that she became compromised. We all did- Casey, Graham, Sarah, me. Any one of us can see what she sees in him."

Stephen twirled the bottle silently before he sucked in a breath and leaned toward Beckman. "I don't think you understand what it's like to lose someone you love so deeply to something as simple as a job."

Beckman held back her anger, but only by the skin of her teeth. There was no need to let him in on something that personal. "Stop being so narrow-minded and look at the evidence. This time you can be objective because it's not _you_ involved in the relationship. They've worked hard to get to where they are and they have a long way to go but they have a good foundation to build on. Don't stand in their way because of feelings you can't get over." Without waiting for a reply, Beckman stood and grabbed her briefcase, stalking off to the door. She'd just stopped by the apartment to change before having dinner at the hospital with her family. There wasn't time to deal with some Gloomy Gus.

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Grace, Casey, Trisha and Diane sat scattered around the room eating dinner and chatting about their days. Grace had taken Trisha out for a day of pampering and Casey went with Diane to look over reports on the new Intersect. It was starting to look like a piece of work that was more trouble than it was worth if Ellie or Stephen didn't come up with some kind of fix.

Eve had sat quietly, not offering much about her day, though she gave them the bare bones. They had all seen what her day had involved in the bruise on her elbow and the significant lack of hair under the bandana. The talk with her sister was still her secret along with the discussion with Chuck. But there were some questions that came out of that talk. "Can I ask you guys something?"

"Of course," Trisha said.

Eve hadn't realized she'd actually spoke until all eyes were on her. "Oh, um . . ." She pulled back her blanket and took out the file Chuck had given her earlier. "Did you guys know about this?"

Grace kept her focus on her food. Casey stared at Eve. Trisha and Diane looked at the file and then each other and then to Eve. "Well . . ." Trisha started and then nodded once, "Yes, we did."

Eve nodded slowly. "Okay." She took a moment to sort through her feelings. It was not so much anger, more surprise than anything else and possibly some disappointment. Her brow furrowed contemplatively. "Thanks for being honest."

Trisha grimaced. "Are you mad?"

"No, no," Eve said shaking her head, "I just- why didn't you tell me?"

She leaned forward and gripped Eve's hand. "We didn't know how to tell you. Any time we brought Sarah up, you pushed us all away and it got very complicated."

Eve nodded. "Okay." She knew that was true. She had successfully convinced them that Sarah was a taboo subject. "I guess I just hoped you guys hadn't known about it before now."

"Oh, honey," Trisha said as she rubbed Eve's hand. It seemed Diane and Casey were fine with letting her take point on this. Eve was her daughter after all. "Are you going to talk to her?"

Eve thought for a moment before answering. Deep down she did want to talk to her but that also meant drudging up things in her past, things she'd rather not speak about. The thing is, though, Eve had been going stir crazy wondering what happened to Sarah- like, for example, how she became 'Sarah' would be nice to know. That had not been her name when they were growing up.

Eve looked down to the file. Just underneath that cover was the key to solving the biggest conundrum in her universe. It was right within reach, closer than ever before, the piece of mind to pass on should that be the way things were meant to go. Answers did not mean they had to become sisters again- though she hoped that's where it would lead . . . . That thought made her pause. Is that honestly what she hoped for? Perhaps she was making this too difficult. Walk before you run as the saying goes. Baby steps. It was all about baby steps and the first one had to be hers.

"Yes," Eve said. "I'm going to talk to her."

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So there you have it. If you have a moment and would like to, please let me know what you think =) Thanks for reading.


	32. Chapter 32

Hey everyone. Thanks for your patience. I really wanted this to be out on or before the two year anniversary (wow, I can't believe it's been that long) but I sort of psyched myself out for this chapter and got stuck with writer's block. But at least it came together and hopefully in a way you all enjoy. Practically two-thirds of the chapter is Sarah and Eve. It's kind of fitting that this conversation happens now though I did not plan it that way.

To anyone that celebrates, I hope you had a wonderful holiday =)

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Chapter Thirty-Two

It'd been five days since Sarah had been to see Eve. Five days and there'd been no call, no text, not a single word exchanged since then. She'd resisted the urge to go to the hospital everyday because she'd been certain Eve would call. Each day that passed Sarah could feel herself becoming more desperate than ever for the opportunity to make amends. When it hadn't been a possibility, it was somewhat easier to disregard the thought, but knowing that it might-could-possibly-perhaps-maybe happen now, it was like a constant barrage of thoughts filling her mind with daydreams and wishes that no shift at a friggin' yogurt shop was going to fix. A mission or two or _seven_ might do the trick, but what if Evie called and she missed it? Then what? That would just drive home Evie's concerns about her reliability or lack thereof. No, it was imperative to keep her time open and available to be there for her sister and hope that the chance came.

The bell chimed above the door indicating the arrival of her third customer of the day. The other two had been seated at a table by the window for the last twenty minutes. Like usual, it'd been a slow, slow day. Sarah sighed silently and plastered on her best CIA-issued smile. "Good afternoon. Welcome to the Orange Orange. How may I help you?"

"I'm looking for a . . ." the man trailed off, looking down at his clip board, "Sarah Walker?"

"That's me. What can I do for you?"

"I've got a delivery for you. If you could just sign here for me, please, and I'll bring it right in," he said, thrusting the clipboard at her and tapping the bottom of the page with his index finger.

Sarah did a once over one on the paper, noting the logo at the top of the page was for a florist shop that was a CIA front in the next city over before scribbling her name across the bottom. Hey, businesses needed ambiance too and what better way than to add flowers with which you could easily slip a bug in? This must be some kind of intelligence transfer or something to have Chuck look at.

"Thanks. I'll be right back."

Sarah nodded and watched the man walk out the door and to his car before slowly making her way to check on the other customers. God, she hated this job. As if spending her life serving people in the food industry was what she wanted. It most certainly was not. Not that it wasn't fine for some people. It just wasn't for her. She couldn't stand the monotony of it all. From the word go, her life had been fast paced- constantly changing, constantly moving- so if the CIA had to go then she'd better decide what comes after. Food service was definitely out. Perhaps something in the private sector? Or she could finally put that Harvard Degree to use . . . . Oh, well. There was no use in stressing over it now. She wouldn't be done with the CIA for quite some time yet. Unless, of course, Ellie and Stephen got the Intersect out of Chuck's head. "Are you ladies doing alright? Is there anything I can get for you?"

Before the ladies could answer, the bell chimed once again, shifting Sarah's attention to the door. The large bouquet of gardenias instantly brought a smile to her face and she knew this was a personal call, not a professional one. Though if it were a professional one, it was sure one hell of a guess.

"Where would you like me to put them?" the delivery guy asked.

She couldn't hide the blush as she reached out to grab them. "I'll take them, thank you."

The man nodded and handed them over. He turned to the door and called over his shoulder, "There's a card in there somewhere for you. Have a nice day." Obviously he didn't like his cover job either.

Sarah brought the flowers up to smell before digging for the card, suddenly feeling like a love-struck school girl as the customer's oo'ed and aw'ed at the stunning arrangement. "That's so cute!" one lady said. "I wish I had someone to send me flowers."

"At least you've been sent flowers," the other said. "Hell would freeze before my boyfriend would do that. They're a 'frivolous expense,' as he would say."

Once again, Sarah felt so privileged to have a Chuck for a boyfriend. She hadn't been the best company as of late and despite the fact that he must be beyond disgruntled with her, he still tried to cheer her up. She probably owed him an apology for her temperament the past few days. "Well, my guy's pretty special."

"Lucky girl. How long have you been together?"

"A couple years," she answered absently, searching for the card. Technically, it was just over the week point, but, if she were honest, they'd truly been together for much longer than that. It just wasn't in the stated, 'yes, I wanna be with you' way. But she had given her heart to him a long time ago. He just knew about it now.

"Really? And you still get flowers? Is it a special occasion?"

"Nope." Sarah fought a smile as she grasped the tiny card and freed it from its plastic holder. "Is there anything else I can get you?" she asked holding the bouquet in one hand and the card in the other, hoping they'd say no so she could read what the card said.

"No, no. Go read your card," one said, waiving Sarah away with a smile. "At least some men still know the meaning of romance."

Sarah returned the smile and retreated behind the counter. She kept her back to them, keeping a slight air of privacy, while opening the card with both hands and leaning over to smell the flowers again.

_To my Sarah,_

_. . . Man, I love saying that._

_Forever and always yours,_

_Chuck_

Sarah let out a small laugh. If she actually were a school-girl, she might be bouncing up and down giddily right now. Even still, it was a hard pressed urge to suppress. What she really wanted to do was run across the parking lot and show him just how thankful she was, aversions to PDA be damned. Unfortunately, she wouldn't be able to step away until the customer's left. As if on cue, her phone rang. "Hello," she said cheerfully, not looking at the caller ID because she assumed it was Chuck. The person let out a long exhale but remained silent. Sarah pulled the phone away from her ear and looked at the number. _Restricted._ Her brow furrowed and she asked, "Hello?"

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Chuck had decided to spend another day in the cage. The work load had been getting backed up ever since he'd taken time off for Ellie's wedding. If he had any hope of making a dent in the pile up before Ellie got a hold of him for her studies, he'd need to get on top of it right away. Today was his third day in the cage and he'd nearly been finished until Jeff and Lester dropped more orders. They'd taken on the service calls while Chuck knocked out the cage, which he was fine with. This way, he got to mind his own business and listen to the music on his iPod rather than the store approved CD on repeat.

A pair of hands slivered over his eyes, knocking his ear buds out. Chuck nearly jumped out of his skin as he dropped his tools and his breathing became erratic. "Gah!" The hands slid sensuously down his chest and he caught a whiff of perfume as she edged closer to his ear. He let out a breathy relieved laugh. He'd know that scent anywhere.

"Relax, Chuck, it's just me," Sarah whispered, her breath brushing across his ear. She kissed his neck and let go so he could turn around.

"A little warning would have been nice, you know."

"Aw, but then it would have ruined the surprised," she said, stepping toward him.

Chuck held her steady as she situated herself to straddle his lap. "So you like my girlish screams of terror, then, huh?"

Sarah smiled as she ran his tie through her hands. "I like everything about you." With a gentle tug, she pulled him to her, meeting him half-way.

The kiss went from innocent to passionate in an instant so before he lost all semblance of control and forgot where he was, Chuck pulled back. His eyes opened slowly to see Sarah's bright but shy smile. "Someone's in a better mood."

"Thank you for my flowers."

"Did you like 'em? Casey recommended the place."

_That explains it,_ she thought. Just to be certain there was no information in the bouquet she did scan them in Castle before coming over. Bug free. "Well, I'm glad you heeded his guidance. He's surprisingly more adept with advice than I would have originally thought."

"Yeah, no kidding," Chuck said. He'd been surprised by Casey more in these past couple weeks than in the whole two years he'd known him. "Are you heading out for your appointment?" He looked at his watch to check the time. "Kind of early, aren't you?"

Sarah's mouth shifted to one side of her face as she bobbed her head. "Evie called this morning."

"Ah ha," Chuck said lightly, "so the real reason for your brightened mood comes out."

"No, it was definitely the flowers first. Evie was an added bonus," she said with a smile, bending down to peck his lips. "And I am sorry I haven't been the best company recently."

"Hey, no worries, I understand. You've got a lot on your plate."

"Yeah, well, I've never felt more 'needy' in my whole life and I don't exactly like the feeling."

"What and the past couple years where I've been the needy one have been fun for me? It's nice to take a break every once in a while." He rubbed her legs affectionately. "Don't worry, soon enough we'll be back to our old routine and my girlish screams will reign again. Besides, you're way overdue for having someone to take care of you. Enjoy it, take advantage." Chuck leaned forward, a mischievous glint to his eye. "Seriously, take advantage. I won't tell anyone."

Sarah laughed and scooted further up his legs. "Well, in that case, be sure to keep your schedule open."

"For you? Always."

Sarah nodded and looked down to hide her blush. She knew coming here first was a good idea. He always made her feel better. How he did it was a mystery to her but one she was happy to spend a long time figuring out. With her head tucked under his chin, Sarah sucked in a long breath, his scent easing up the anxiety building in her stomach.

"Hey," Chuck said giving her a small shake, "are you okay?"

"Mhm."

"You sure?"

She shrugged. "Just," she sighed, taking a moment to gather her thoughts, "nervous, I guess."

"I thought spies don't get nervous," he teased.

Sarah pulled back and narrowed her eyes at him. "Not helping, Chuck."

"Alright. Sorry, sorry," he said, "Trying to lighten the mood." In an effort to calm Sarah, he gave her a quick kiss.

With a half smile to let him know she wasn't angry, she fit herself back under his chin. His arms tightened around her and she relished in their comfort. She kept quiet for a long while before speaking. "All I wanted was for her to call. And now that she has, I realized I never thought about what I would say. How dumb is that? I should have thought about that, right? What am I supposed to say to her?"

"'How are you?' could work."

Sarah shook her head. "Trisha said Evie doesn't like that question." The coarse hairs on his chin scratched against her forehead as he nodded, signifying that he hadn't shaved this morning.

He remembered Eve's smart-alecky remark after he'd asked how she was doing. "Okay, then, how about giving her something she liked from her childhood, something you remember, like a book you used to read together or something, you know, break the ice or whatever and see where it goes from there."

"Oh my god, Chuck," she began sitting up abruptly, "tha- that's brilliant." She sprung off his lap and started for the gate but then did a quick about face and rushed back him. She grabbed his face and pressed a hard kiss against his lips. "Thank you." And in a flash, she was gone again.

"You're . . . welcome?" he said more to himself as she was already at the door. He lifted his hand in an awkward wave. "Drive safe, honey!"

..-. .- - .. .-.. -.- - .- - - . .-. … … - - .-.

Eve flipped through a magazine, barely glancing at any of the pages. She was merely using it as a distraction while waiting for her sister to show. Today's the first day she'd felt well enough to handle any sort of confrontation. Not perfect, but in a lot of ways she could be running out of time and the more she thought about it, the more she wanted that closure. There was still a pretty decent chance that the transplant wouldn't work. Eve wasn't deluded enough to believe she'd be able to get better without it and even though she wouldn't be around to beat herself up about not taking the time to confront the situation, she just couldn't leave her sister hanging, no matter what happened.

"Hey, Eve," Ethan said as he entered the room. He grabbed her chart and pointed to her magazine with his pen. "Anything interesting going on in the world of celebrities?"

"Uuuh . . . well, truthfully I'm not really paying attention." She flipped the cover closed and threw the magazine to the table.

"Mmm," he groaned sympathetically. "Feeling nervous?" He knew she'd called Sarah after breakfast about meeting.

Eve briefly thought about downplaying it but that thought quickly dissolved under her weariness. She felt tired, tired of keeping everything in, tired of hiding. Ethan was probably the most neutral person she could talk to about this and, in a strange turn of events, she wanted him to know. She made a face similar to a grimace and nodded. "Yes. It's just- what do you say to someone you haven't seen in twenty years? How would you start such a conversation?"

He shrugged a shoulder, wishing he'd have an answer but shook his head. "I don't know, I'm sorry." Ethan picked up a leg and leaned on the bed. "Maybe it's one of those things that just sort of come to fruition on its own accord."

Eve laughed. "Come to fruition?"

"Are you- are you laughing at me?" Ethan was so glad to see her laughing, finally. "Here I am, trying to be all supportive and you're laughing."

"I'm sorry." She wasn't sure why she found it so funny but it sure felt good to laugh. "It's just, who talks like that? What century are you from?"

"Got ya to laugh, didn't it?" he said, grinning. "Come on. It's been a few days since you've laughed. I'm trying to help out."

Eve, still smiling but sobered, said, "You are."

He reached out to grab her hand and steered back to the original topic. "Maybe the real question is where do you want to end up? Do you want to be friends or are you just looking for answers?"

Eve helplessly threw up her hands in frustration. "I don't know. That's the problem," she said, "This is so beyond messed up." She shook her head. "Maybe I shouldn't have called her yet. Maybe it was too soon."

"Hey, now," he squeezed her hand to get her attention, "no running from this, Eve. The situation is extremely complex and not exactly ideal, but it is what it is. I understand that she hurt you but I also know that she cares. Otherwise she wouldn't be willing to stand outside your door just to check on you, see you, all the while knowing she might never be able to talk to you or get to know you. Just let it evolve naturally."

"Except that there's nothing natural about this," Eve said mirthlessly.

"Yeah," he said. "But you're sisters. It's gonna work out. Start with the one thing you want to know the most and go from there."

"The one thing I want to know," she repeated. "Huh, that's a good idea, thanks."

"Sure." He let go of her hand after giving her one last squeeze and stood up.

As his fingers slipped out of hers, Eve felt an odd sense of loss, like a moment had been missed. She'd been getting those a lot lately where Ethan was concerned. Her eyelids became heavy as she watched Ethan move around the room, writing his notes down in her chart. Try as she might to fight it, they'd droop closed only to open with more effort until finally she couldn't lift them any more. Her breathing evened out and she had almost surrendered to her sudden desire to sleep when she felt her blanket get secured around her shoulder and lips press against her temple. She sighed and succumbed to darkness.

..-. .- - .. .-.. -.- - .- - - . .-. … … - - .-.

Eve finished the last sip of her drink and set it back on the tray. Mom, Grams, and Uncle Casey had gone out to have a late lunch- or an early dinner, depending on how you looked at it- per her request since her sister was supposed to come any minute now. It'd taken her a while to decide but she'd finally settled on what the one thing was that she wanted to know. A light, almost tentative knock resounded on the door frame, directing her attention away from her tray.

"Hi," Sarah said quietly.

"Hey."

A moment passed where the pair just stared silently. Whether or not it was her training she couldn't be certain, but Sarah recovered first taking an unsure step into the room. "I, uh . . . I brought you something," she said, pulling the object out of her bag and putting it on the table next to Eve's tray.

A slow smile spread across Eve's face. "Gummy bears." She picked up the bag and looked up to her sister in awe. "You remembered."

"Yeah." Sarah returned the smile with one of her own. "I don't know if you can have them, but-"

"No, no, it's fine. I'm sure I can tolerate a few. Thank you."

Sarah nodded and took the chair next to Eve's bed. Neither was quite sure what to say now that they'd made it to this moment. Sarah had thought for sure Chuck's idea would work. The gummy bears would break the ice and things would just sort of . . . happen, words would come. And yet, no such luck. A whole two minutes had passed and neither had spoken. _I should have thought this through more,_ she berated herself. She kept looking for a clue or a hint, something to indicate which direction to go. But Eve just sat there.

Eve waited to see what her sister would say. Granted, she wasn't making this easy but she had no idea how to lead in to what she had decided to use to break the ice. Now their eyes shifted around the room, every so often landing on each other before they'd both look away to something safer. Suddenly her sister was laughing and Eve turned to her with a strange look and started to uneasily laugh along too.

"I'm sorry," Sarah said, clearing her throat and forcing herself to stop laughing. "This is pretty awkward, isn't it?"

Eve nodded her head in agreement. "Yeah, that's one way of explaining it."

"I mean, we used to be so good at talking all the time and now we can't even look each other in the eye. I'm clearly the one to blame for that but shouldn't this come . . . I don't know, more naturally or something?"

Eve snorted thinking about her earlier conversation with Ethan. "Ethan kind of led me to believe it would be."

Sarah smiled with a nod. Obviously Evie had sought advice as well. "Chuck thought getting something for you from our childhood would help break the ice."

"Ah, I see," she said. "Well, I got gummy bears out of the deal so . . . yay for me." Though she lifted her hands in cheer, she lacked a significant amount of enthusiasm while saying 'yay' but at least she got a nod and laugh- albeit an awkward one- from her sister. Before the rising tension could get out of hand, Eve cleared her throat and said, "Uh, Ethan suggested asking one question that we'd most like to have answered."

"Huh," Sarah said, flashing a quick frown as she considered the suggestion. It was better than anything she had at the moment- which was nothing. "Okay. That could work. I assume you have a-a question."

"Yes," Eve said. She exhaled slowly staring at the bag gummy bears in her lap for a moment before looking up at her sister. "I was wondering how you became Sarah Walker. I mean, that's not even close to your name."

Sarah sat back in the chair and took a breath. _That's her question?_ Well, Evie certainly figured out the best way to ask everything in one question. Maybe that was better. Get it all out there and if it didn't go well, then a reconciliation just wasn't meant to be. Her eyes shifted back and forth as she thought of the best way to answer and hopefully keep the conversation flowing. "Umm . . . well, after Dad took-"

"Your dad," she interrupted brusquely. "He's certainly not mine." Her sister, she might be willing to forgive- which was looking more likely than not; her 'father,' on the other hand, not a chance in hell. Not after everything that happened after they'd left.

"Right," Sarah said slowly. She'll have to choose her words more carefully. "Sorry . . . uh, after _my_ dad took me, he gave us new identities. Stole them, really. I don't know how he did it but somehow he had the skills to make us different people. We'd go to different towns, con the people and move on to the next one with a new name. It was like a big adventure or a game. I doubt we stayed anywhere longer than six months, with the exception of the few times he got caught. Around my senior year of high school, I told him I didn't want to help him con this group of people; that I'd rather focus on getting into college. Next thing I knew, the CIA was arresting him. The man in charge of the case said he did it to protect him and then said he could protect me as well. I thought he meant that he'd arrest me too. Instead, he offered me a position with the agency. I got a full ride scholarship to Harvard and a clean slate."

"So Sarah's what I should call you then?" she asked. "That's gonna be weird to get used to."

Sarah knew the question was rhetorical but she answered anyway. "Well, it is the name I've had the longest, even including my real name. But I've felt more like myself as Sarah than by any other name."

"'_That which we call a rose, by any other name would smell as sweet.'_"

"Shakespeare."

Eve nodded but was not surprised that Sarah knew the reference. Practically everyone knew about Romeo and Juliet. It was a classic, after all. "It doesn't matter what your name is, you're always going to be you."

"Fair enough," she said, smiling, "I like the name Sarah best then."

Eve smiled back. "It's a good fit." This was starting to feel easier; they had a flow going now. Even though they paused now, it wasn't nearly as awkward as before. "So, what's your question?"

"Hmm, let me think here . . ." She paused. "Okay, uuuh, what happened to mom?" Apparently that was the wrong question as Eve's friendly disposition dropped like a door slamming and her walls went up.

"She's dead."

"I know."

"Well, that's all you're getting out of me. Ask something else."

Sarah nodded slowly taking a moment to think of something else. In a way, she already knew what happened but she couldn't help saying, "It got worse, didn't it?"

Eve sighed, knowing this wasn't actually Sarah's new question. "Yes. It got a lot worse."

"I'm sorry."

She whispered it so quietly Eve practically had to read her lips. Eve shook her head and looked away. "Not a day goes by where I don't wish that Trisha and David were my biological parents," she said.

Sarah nodded, hurting at the pain crossing Eve's face, a pain that cut more deeply than any knife ever would. Evie came out stronger but Sarah wished she could have done for her what Ellie did for Chuck. In a heartbeat, Sarah would have taken on everything if it meant that Evie were able to keep her innocence. Eve's somber voice cut through Sarah's thoughts.

"Did you have another question?"

After a moment of hesitance, Sarah decided to go with something more of a sisterly nature. "What's up with you and Ethan?"

Eve, not expecting that, turned as red as a cherry tomato and squirmed. There was no hope for hiding the reaction but that didn't stop her from trying. "Nothing."

"Really?" Sarah said disbelievingly. "I highly doubt that."

"Why?"

"I've had a few hints actually," she said and then held up a finger. "First of all, he was . . . well, I wouldn't say unfriendly but he wasn't exactly nice either when we met. He's very protective of you. It's kinda cute actually. And second, you just turned so red you'd have blended in with a fire hydrant." Eve's blush deepened as she laughed along with Sarah. "He's sweet on you. It's plain as day. And something tells me it's not all one sided."

Eve hid her face in her hands. There were a lot worse things Sarah could've come up with and while this question wasn't so bad, she wasn't even sure where she stood. Eve inhaled sharply through her nose and looked at Sarah. Mustering up as much nonchalance as she could, Eve said "We're just friends."

"Are you?" Sarah said lightly, displaying her skepticism.

"It's complicated."

Sarah spread her hands out. "Tell me something I don't know."

Eve smiled tightly at that. Sarah probably knew all about complex relationships. With a turn to the serious, she asked, "Does it make it easier?"

Sarah's head tilted. "Does what make what easier?"

"Telling someone how you feel or should you protect them so they don't get hurt?"

Sarah wasn't quite sure where Evie was going with this, but she did know that she was not the person to be asking. She only wanted to know the situation, not offer advice. "Oh, I'm not- I'm not really the best person to come to for advice on this subject."

"Why not? You seem to be doing just fine with Chuck." His impassioned plea to her was evidence enough of that. For a boyfriend to go that far out of his way to make his girlfriend feel better, he must really love her.

_How did Eve know about Chuck?_ she wondered briefly before justifying the comment. "But that's all him." She hadn't been doing a very good job at holding up her end of the bargain on the relationship front yet.

"That's impossible. Relationships take two people," Eve said. "Come on, in your best educated guess, if you hadn't told Chuck how you felt and you died, is it better for the person that you didn't tell them?"

"Oh god, um-" Sarah brought a hand up to her forehead and ran her finger through her hair before bringing it back to rest in her lap._ Where is Chuck when you need him?_ She swallowed. "Well, I think it would matter how the person feels about you. Or what's at stake. I knew Chuck loved me a long time ago even though he hadn't said it, and whether or not he knew how I felt, I think his hurt would be the same either way if I died. But that's because we're talking about Chuck. He wears his heart on his sleeve."

"No kidding."

Okay, Eve definitely knew something she wasn't saying. Sarah started to shift into overprotective mode. "How do you know about Chuck anyway? You guys haven't even met."

Eve brow rose as she watched Sarah carefully for a moment. She'd laid the bait and Sarah hadn't taken it. _So Chuck hadn't lied when he said he came on his own. Interesting._ She pulled out the file that her sister had compiled from where it'd been hidden last night. It dropped with a smack on the tray, though she was careful to avoid her trash.

Sarah's eyes widened and her jaw dropped slightly. "Where did you get that?" she asked, though she was certain she already knew the answer. They were going to need to have a talk about that.

"Chuck," she said. "He brought it to me."

"When?"

Eve shrugged. "The same day you helped me. He said you didn't know that he'd come. I thought he might've been lying since we'd spoken first."

"Chuck doesn't lie."

"Really?" she intoned sarcastically. "In your profession? I find that awfully hard to believe." Sarah licked her lips and turned away, obviously not looking to start an argument. Seeing that Sarah wouldn't respond to that, Eve said lightly, "Plus Uncle Casey told me about you guys."

A crooked smile twitched at Sarah's lips and her eyebrow quirked. "_Uncle_ Casey?" she questioned, letting out a laugh. "That's a strange concept. I mean, he called you his niece but finding out that his niece is you . . ." She shook her head. "It's just weird."

Eve shrugged. "He's just a big sugar bear at heart."

Sarah laughed, remembering the nickname Ilsa had given him. "Wow! How do you know about that?"

"How do you?" she countered mischievously. Eve laid back on the bed, weariness coming over her. It was strange how it came in waves. One minute, she'd be fine and the next, it was like she'd been taken over by an overwhelming sense of exhaust.

Sarah kept the smile on her face but saw the end nearing. This had gone fairly well all things considered. Better than she'd hoped. "I'm really glad you called."

"Me too," Eve said. "I hadn't actually meant to keep you waiting for so long. I've just been so . . . tired all the time, I could barely stay awake the past few days."

Sarah lifted her hand to get Eve to stop. "Hey, I get it. You don't have to explain," she said, somewhat relieved that it wasn't solely about her why it took so long. "You have to focus on getting better, I understand." Eve nodded and Sarah smiled tightly. "Do you think we could, I don't know, keep this as a regular thing? Or is that not something you want? We can do whatever you want."

Eve considered the question. When Ethan had asked her where she wanted to end up with her sister, she honestly didn't know, but now . . . some things are just easier with a sister. "I'd rather keep this as a regular thing. It's kind of nice having a sister again."

"Okay." Sarah beamed. "Great." A huge weight lifted off her as she stood and adjusted the strap of her bag on her shoulder. "Well, then, I'll let you get some rest."

Eve smiled back tiredly. "'Kay."

"Call me when you want to meet again." She hesitated before going to the door. "Is it . . . should we . . . can we hug?" Eve laughed and sat up, spreading her arms. Sarah leaned down and gently embraced her sister. In that moment, a missing piece to both their hearts slid into place. A dream had come true. Sarah stepped back and Eve laid down, both still smiling. "Get some sleep," Sarah said, leaning down to press a kiss against Eve's temple before walking away.

Eve stopped her when she got to the door. "Hey, Sarah?" She turned around expectantly. "Thank you."

Sarah's smile widened and she nodded her head before turning on her heel and leaving. The thanks was unnecessary. They're sisters. She would do anything she could to help her little sister.

..-. .- - .. .-.. -.- - .- - - . .-. … … - - .-.

When Sarah got home, she shut the door with more force than absolutely necessary. On the way there, she'd decided to have a little fun with Chuck regarding the information Evie told her. There had been a moment of rising panic when Evie first pulled out the file but that left as quickly as it came. She wasn't really upset with him at all. If anything, it made her love him more. The fact that he'd cared enough to try for her when she was too much of a guppy to try herself- because, honestly, that's what it'd come down to, she was too afraid to try to change Eve's mind- meant so much to her. And if Evie hadn't called, Sarah might never have known Chuck had attempted to get Evie to talk to her.

Chuck had been expecting her. The slam, though, was unanticipated. He jumped as he paused his game and turned his head to face the door taking in her stance. Her arms were crossed; her weight perfectly perched atop one leg; her eyes narrowed and fixed on him with a hard stare. Interrogation mode. Uh oh. He wasn't quite sure what he'd done, but he knew better than to say anything while she decided what to do. His stomach churned and he swallowed fearfully. It felt like she'd stood there for a minute before taking slow, calculated steps toward him. Each click of her stiletto heel hammered through his body. The closer she got, the more he tried to recoil into himself. He shifted on the couch and cowered closer to the arm rest, looking apprehensively through his eyelashes as Sarah towered over him. Her fingers started to tap expectantly against her arm. "Uh, S-sa-sarah? Did I, ummm . . . did I do something . . . wrong?"

"Are you keeping secrets from me?" she asked, feigning suspicion with a hint of anger.

"What?" Chuck sprung to his feet making Sarah lean back, though she knew better than to step back. "No! Absolutely not," he insisted. "That's ridiculous."

"Is it?"

"Yes, totally outlandish," he said sweeping his hands out in front of him.

"Then how come Evie has my file?"

Any point Chuck may have had after that completely fell. "Ooh. That. Right. Well . . . I wouldn't say that it was a secret per se . . . hmm, how to explain?" He'd hoped Eve wouldn't show her the file.

"Come on, Chuck. You knew how I felt about this. I wanted her to do this on her own terms."

"Okay, okay, true," he said quickly, "but, Sarah, you just- you wanted it so badly and I don't- I'm not . . ." He exhaled heavily and sat back down. He ran his hands through his hair, taking a moment to collect his thoughts and then looked up at Sarah. "Sarah, I want you to have everything you want. But there are some things I will never be able to give you."

In an instant, Sarah dropped her act and sat down next to Chuck, utterly confused. "What are you talking about?"

Chuck gave a small shake of his head, pushing away his insecurities and focusing on the matter at hand. "I just wanted you to have a chance to remember something you tried to force yourself to forget so you could move forward. I didn't want you to have to forget anymore. She's right there in front of you. It shouldn't be a missed opportunity. You deserved to have the chance to fix things. You deserve to be happy- so, so happy. And Eve . . . she's a big part of that."

"Oh, Chuck," she said, reaching her hand out to cup his cheek, feeling her eyes become a little misty. "Please, don't forget that you are the _biggest_ part of my happiness. If it weren't for you she might never have called." Her hand slid down his arm and took his hand. "Really, I should be thanking you for having the courage when I didn't. Having you makes my life so much better than I ever thought it could be."

Chuck saw the moisture gathering in her eyes but no tears were falling and she had a small smile on her face. "So you're not mad?" he asked, hopeful.

Sarah's smile grew and she shook her head. "No, I'm not mad. I'm grateful- very, very grateful- and happy."

Chuck smiled back and leaned forward, giving her a kiss of relief and thankfulness. But Sarah had other plans to show her appreciation. Her tongue swept across his lips and he opened his mouth a fraction of a second afterwards. They both moaned, quickly picking up where they'd left off at the Buy More. Chuck scooted closer to her, pushing her back to rest against the couch, never breaking the kiss as he adjusted himself to be over her. When her hands went to the buttons of his shirt, showing her intentions of not leaving this as a simple make-out session, Chuck pulled back slightly. "You wanna move this to the bedroom?"

Sarah leaned up to kiss him again, making her way to his ear to whisper, "Why?"

"The blinds are open," he explained.

She quirked her eyebrow seductively and asked, "Are you done being wild and dangerous, then?" Making love on the couch with the blinds open at a time when hardly any people were out was not high on the wild and dangerous list but Chuck was shy and she liked bringing him out of his shell.

Chuck looked up to the window, seeing the minimally lit courtyard beyond and then over to the DVD player for the time, obviously thinking. Eight twelve. When Sarah bit down lightly on his earlobe, any thoughts of protest left. "I'm good with wild and dangerous," he said, lifting Sarah just enough to pull her shirt over her head.

She chuckled at his sudden enthusiasm and her eyes sparkled as she pulled Chuck's head down for another long kiss. As they kissed, she pushed his shirt down and ran her hands over his bare chest. "That's good," she teased when the kiss finally broke, "because the sofa is just the beginning. We still have the bathtub and the kitchen table-"

"The kitchen table?" Chuck asked with a laugh. "I eat on that table."

Sarah looked at him with a sly smile.

"Not tonight you don't."

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Thank you for reading. I'd really love to hear any feedback you have on this chapter.


	33. Chapter 33

Hey guys. So how awesome is it that Chuck's coming back for a fifth season? I'm stoked! Happy finale day, too!

Thanks so much to all those that have read, reviewed, favorited, etc and so forth. You are all awesome! As usual, your patience is appreciated. And special thanks to Bill for being an extraordinary beta.

And, as a side-note, thanks for the nominations in that Awesome Awards. I had no idea about these things until right before it started and I'm grateful for the thought =)

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Chapter Thirty-three

It was early morning. Sarah had been sleeping peacefully in bed when suddenly she flinched. Instinctively, her fingers slid across cool sheets to Chuck's side. Meeting no obstacles along the way, her eyes opened confirming that, regrettably, he was no longer next to her. She promptly sat up, squinting around the room for clues as to where he might be. Light glimmered underneath the bathroom door, preventing any alarm bells from going off just yet. She leaned her weight on her hands and waited. The toilet flushed and the water ran. Thirty seconds later the light shut off and the door opened revealing the shadowed figure of Chuck.

"Hey, stranger."

"Gah!" Chuck did a jump and groan at the unexpected sound. "Aw, man, did I wake you? I'm sorry." He knelt across the bed and gave her a peck on the lips as if to reinforce his apology. "It was the toilet, wasn't it? I shouldn't have flushed."

Sarah laughed and shook her head. "No, it wasn't that, but please, always flush the toilet even if you're afraid of waking me." Noticing street clothes in place of his pajamas, she tilted her head curiously. "Where are you going?" she asked, bouncing slightly as his weight left the bed.

Chuck went to the closet to grab his shoes. "Uh, Ellie called. Apparently Beckman asked if they'd be willing to cut their honeymoon short since my dad fixed the new Intersect download for Bryce." He sat on the edge of the bed and started to put them on. "They took the first flight back so I'm going to pick them up."

Sarah looked at the bedside clock. "At six thirty in the morning?" she questioned. "Ellie must be really excited to have you be her guinea pig." Sarah crawled over to Chuck and rubbed her hand on his back while he bent over to tie his shoes.

"She has been waiting for this moment for a long time."

"Do you want me to go with you?"

"No, no. I'll be fine. You can go back sleep."

Sarah furrowed her brow. "Are you sure?" Chuck was acting tremendously standoffish, in his own Chuck way, but she didn't know why. Things had been fine last night. More than fine. But now, it felt . . . awkward. Normally, he'd be more receptive to her affections but it just seemed like he couldn't get away fast enough.

Chuck leaned his head back to look at her and tried to give a reassuring smile. "Of course." He kissed her cheek and stood up. "I've got to go," he said making his way to the door.

Not satisfied with leaving it that way, Sarah called out to him. "Chuck." He stopped and looked back to her. She got up from the bed and invaded his personal space. "Will you be back to have breakfast with me before work?"

"I don't know. It depends on Ellie. I might even have to call in to the Buy More today." Sarah nodded and looked down. As he got better at reading her moods, he could tell she knew something was up by her reaction. In an attempt to keep her from worrying too much, Chuck stood straighter and lifted his hands to the sides of her face so she'd look at him. He gave her a small smile. "I'll call you and let you know, okay? I'd bet Ellie would at the very least want to unpack first."

She smiled back. "kay."

Chuck gave her two quick pecks on the lips and pulled her in for a hug. "Get some more rest. I'll be right back." He kissed her forehead and walked down the hall.

Sarah crossed her arms and leaned against the door frame as she watched him leave. Perhaps she was wrong and he was only tired. It was awfully early after all and they did have a long night. But Sarah couldn't shake feeling that there was more to it than that. When the door shut and she heard the lock click, she made her way to the bathroom, set on getting ready for the day. What ever was going on with Chuck would occupy her thoughts too much for her to even contemplate sleeping again.

..-. .- - .. .-.. -.- - .- - - . .-. … … - - .-.

It'd taken Chuck nearly a half-hour to get to the airport. He leaned against the hood of Ellie's car with his legs crossed and his arm folded, waiting for her and Awesome to show up. The airport was surprisingly dead for such an early time in the morning. Not that he flew often . . . or at all, really, but he'd been under the impression that morning was the more popular time for flights. Perhaps he'd been wrong.

"Chuck!"

"Hey, Ellie." He smiled largely and met Ellie part of the way up the sidewalk and gave her a big hug. "It's so good to see you." He pulled away and gave Devon a quick hug as well before helping pick up their bags. "Did you guys have a good time?"

"We had a great time."

"It was awesome," Devon said with his signature grin in place, "The perfect amount of time to relax."

"Where's Sarah?" She'd expected both of them to be there since they were attached at the hip these days.

"Oh, I let her sleep," he said dismissively. "You know how much of a morning person she isn't."

Ellie laughed and gave a small nod, even as her eyes narrowed questioningly. Something seemed off with Chuck. Normally, he'd be all for spending every waking second with Sarah. Things had seemed great for them before she and Devon left. But his tone left room for doubt. "Is everything okay? You guys aren't fighting, are you?" she asked as she watched Devon and Chuck pile the bags in the back.

"No, everything's fine. Just a little tired, that's all." With the bags secured, Chuck shut the door and went to the driver's door. Ellie followed suit, taking the front passenger and Devon behind her.

"Are you sure-"

"Ellie, I said everything's fine. Let it go."

She held up her hands in surrender. "Alright, sorry." Chuck definitely seemed agitated about something. She reached back and linked her hand with Devon's, still in newlywed mode but taking comfort in his touch. "But if something were wrong, you'd tell me right?"

Chuck sighed as he started up the car. "Ellie, there is nothing wrong," he said, trying to sound less short but, being unsuccessful, he changed the subject. "Now, when are we supposed to get started with me being your lab rat?"

"Ah ha." Ellie smiled. "So that's what you're upset about." It had to be- although, mentioning Sarah had seemed to bring on the change. Chuck just shook his head and she said, "Well, I'd like to get some breakfast and go over the notes Diane sent me. She gave me copies of your Stanford transcripts, primarily results from that professor that kicked you out," she rolled her eyes at the atrocity committed seven years, "and also some test results from a Dr . . . Zarnow, I think. Anyway, since I couldn't get my own notes before you had the Intersect, I'll have to go with what I've got and then start discovering where you are now. We should be ready to start early afternoon or so. Although, I do need to check on the setup at Castle, too, so maybe a bit later than that."

"And you should probably touch base with Dad, also," he said dryly while navigating out of the airport, "I think he has some statistics or whatever for you."

Ellie was ecstatic that her dad had stayed. She'd had a nagging though that he'd be gone when they got back. But he wasn't and that meant more to her than she thought it would. This project would be the first thing she'll be working on with her father in years and that excited her to no end. "Has he shown you anything? I'd be pretty interested if I were you."

"Well, I wouldn't know what any of it meant anyway so there's not much of a reason to ask, is there?" He could hear the agitation in his voice. _Come on, Chuck. Pull it together._ At least this time, it was about their dad.

"Bro, Ellie's right," Devon said, concerned. "You seem pretty upset about something."

"Look, its fine. There's nothing to talk about. Would you both just let it go? Please."

"So you admit there is something wrong, then?"

Chuck let out an aggravated groan, his fingers tightening on the wheel. If he gave them something, maybe they'll stop asking. "Fine. Dad said some things about Sarah at the wedding and we haven't exactly spoken since then so I'm really not looking forward to this at all."

"Oh." That surprised Ellie. She didn't know they'd had an argument. She furrowed her brow and asked, "What did he say?"

"It doesn't matter. He's wrong and won't admit it. But it's not worth the argument because I know the truth. And we both know Dad will never admit he's wrong anyway so what's the point?"

"Chuck-" Ellie was cutoff by her phone ringing. The name on the ID made her shoulders drop. "Hey, Dad, what's up? . . . Yeah, yeah. We'll be there . . . See you soon." She hung up her phone and put it back in her purse. "Looks like we should head straight to Castle. Dad wants to get started right away."

"Of course he does." Chuck shook his head and pulled out his phone, sending Sarah a quick text to let her know breakfast would have to wait.

..-. .- - .. .-.. -.- - .- - - . .-. … … - - .-.

Ellie stood in the observation room with Sarah on her right. Through the glass, Chuck had electrodes attached to the sides of his head measuring his brain activity in reaction to different stimuli. The better half of the day had been spent mapping his brain. Diane hadn't lied when she'd told Ellie she'd get top of the line equipment. It looked like something straight out of a movie. And, for an added bonus, it made this process so much quicker.

Sarah folded her arms and kept an intense stare on Chuck, every so often slipping to watch Ellie as she jumped between computer monitors, taking notes.

Ellie took notice of Sarah's surreptitious glances her way, though her main focus was on Chuck. He was her top priority. She needed to be sure he was okay. However, she was nothing short of a whiz at multi-tasking. As Ellie scrolled through the incoming EEG report, she asked, "Is everything okay?"

Sarah looked over to Ellie before quickly going back to Chuck. "Fine. Everything's fine." She saw Ellie nod out of the corner of her eye before deciding to dive in for advice. She took a slow breath and turned to look at her. "Chuck hasn't . . . been acting strange to you, has he?"

Ellie glanced away from the computer to Sarah and then back again with a shrug. "He was a little tense at the airport, but he said it was because he wasn't looking forward to this."

Chuck groaned and Sarah's attention shot back to the window, unconsciously leaning towards him. "Are we almost done, El? I don't know how much more of this I can take. My head is killing me."

Ellie grimaced and pressed a button on her microphone. "I'm sorry, Chuck. Just a few more minutes and we'll be done. You're doing great."

"Is all of this really necessary, Ellie?" Sarah asked. "I mean, if Dr. Zarnow did most of these already, why do we need to do it again?"

"I know he did but he also had his own agenda so I'd like to collect my own data to compare it to. Besides, things may have changed since then. His notes will be a good starting point since they were done so soon after Chuck got the Intersect." She clicked the top of her pen a few times, trying to dispel her anxiety over hurting the brother she swore to protect. With a small shake of her head, she shut down the simulation and pressed the microphone again. "Okay, Chuck, that's good enough for today. Take a minute to rest and then go take a shower. I'll get some ibuprofen for you." They could start again after he'd had a rest.

"I'll get it," Sarah said, moving for the door. "You finish up here."

"Sarah, wait, you have a few minutes before he'll be ready for it." Ellie clicked to save the results and turned to her. She couldn't shake the feeling that Chuck hadn't been telling her the whole truth at the airport and now that Sarah was asking too, she was all the more interested. "Tell me the truth. Are you and Chuck having problems? Everything seemed fine before Devon and I left and now, you're right, Chuck is acting odd but so are you."

Sarah's shoulders dropped as she closed the door. So it wasn't her imagination after all. After a slight pause, she did an about face. "As far as I know, everything is okay."

"As far as you know?" Ellie repeated with concern.

Sarah sighed and frustratedly slapped her hands against her legs. "I don't know what happened, Ellie. Things were fine yesterday and then this morning, I asked him if he wanted me to go with him to get you guys- he didn't exactly say 'I don't want you there,' but he may as well have. He's been acting distant and quiet. He's barely said a word to me since I got here and I don't know what I did. I think it might have to do with Bryce coming back but whenever I ask him if he's okay, he says there's nothing to worry about."

Ellie leaned against her hand resting on the table, the other going to her hip. "Bryce? What does that have to do with you?" Sarah's raising brow said everything Ellie needed to know. "Bryce is Bruce."

"Yeah."

"Oh my god," Ellie said, shaking her head that she hadn't connected that earlier. She knew from the few times Bryce had popped up since he supposedly died in the mission debriefs that he and Sarah had a history- that they'd been partners- but it had never clicked before. "Wow, he's . . . he's gotta be beside himself with confidence issues."

Sarah groaned and covered her face with her hands. "So what happens now?"

"Let me talk to him. He's certainly not going tell you that he's struggling with that." Ellie walked over to Sarah and brought her hands up to Sarah's shoulders. "Don't worry. I'll straighten him out."

Sarah gave Ellie a half smile. "Thanks, Ellie."

"You're welcome." Ellie pulled her into a hug. "I'm just going to finish up here. You can get Chuck that ibuprofen."

"'Kay," Sarah said, feeling immensely better knowing that Ellie would fix things. She went to the med unit and grabbed the items she needed before heading off towards the bathroom.

..-. .- - .. .-.. -.- - .- - - . .-. … … - - .-.

Chuck was lost in his own thoughts, standing under the cool flow of the water. He was starting to feel better . . . sort of. At least his headache had subsided. It wasn't gone but it wasn't throbbing. That's something right?

_Okay, come on, Chuck. Sarah has given you no reason to stress that she'd leave with Bryce. You've gotta work past this._

But the truth was, that wasn't his problem. His problem was that he couldn't get out of his head what Bryce had said before he'd left last time, about how Chuck needed to separate himself from Sarah so she doesn't get killed. Bryce asking him to stay away from Sarah was like asking a fish to walk on land- it just wouldn't happen. Chuck would never be able to live with himself if she died because of something he couldn't do. On top of that, he'd actually had to associate with his father today. Chuck was still angry with him, much more than he'd thought, and now it was starting to boil over.

He sighed heavily and slammed off the water. Metal rings scratched against the curtain rod as Chuck reached out for the towel. He patted himself down quickly and re-hung the towel, wiping his feet on the mat. He went to stand in front of the sink, bracing his arms on the counter and stared at himself in the mirror. "No stress, no stress, no stress," he whispered over and over, trying to convince himself there was nothing to worry about. He bowed his head and rolled it from side to side.

Sarah opened the door to find Chuck standing nude in front of the sink. Her eyes widened and her jaw dropped, a blaze of want burning through her, despite the fact that she wasn't exactly sure where they stood.

Mindful of his current state, Chuck startled and whipped his head back to the mirror to see Sarah standing behind him. His shoulders dropped with relief that it was her and not Ellie that'd come. Even though she was his girlfriend, he was still quite bashful when it came to nudity, so, keeping as modest as possible, he tried to meet her eye in the mirror but hers were focused significantly lower on his anatomy. He craned his neck to follow her line of sight. "Are you . . ." he began, trying to look between where her eyes were directed and at her all at the same time, "are you staring at my butt?"

"Wha-" Sarah blinked and shook her head. "No." She heard the high timbre in her voice and cleared her throat to try again. "No, I was not." Even to her, it sounded unconvincing.

A slow grin made its way across his face, momentarily forgetting any anxiety. "You _were_ staring at my butt."

Sarah turned red but defended her action. "So what if I was? Does it bother you?"

Instead of answering, Chuck gave a tiny wiggle of his butt causing Sarah's blush to deepen as she looked away to keep doing something entirely inappropriate. With his smile still firmly in place, he shook his head and began to wash his hands to have something to do besides focus on the fact that he was standing nude in the middle of the room while his girlfriend ogled him.

Now that he wasn't focused on her, Sarah allowed her eyes to drift back down to his backside, taking one last gluttonous moment before stepping towards him with the whole reason for coming. The pills were in one hand and a bottle of water in the other. Keeping a sliver of distance between them, she trapped Chuck between her body and the counter, putting the items on either side of him. Sarah felt him pause in his washing as if deciding what she would do next and her lip twitched in amusement. She took a quiet breath in through her nose. "God, you smell amazing," she whispered to herself, wanton images flooding her mind again.

Chuck didn't hear her, but felt the breath of every escaped word and swallowed hard in an effort to quell the need rolling over him.

Like a magnet, Sarah pressed her body flush against his back, resting her forehead between his shoulder blades. She was so glad she had thought to remove her coat before coming in here. Now she could feel his bare chest against her hands and arms. Ever so slowly, her hands slid up his chest and she licked her lips before dragging her fingernails lightly back down. Outside, footsteps walked past the bathroom, stopping things from escalating.

"Five minutes, Chuck," Ellie said through the closed door.

And her footsteps retreated away. Sarah inhaled a sharp breath through her nose, gathering the strength to step away as her fingers flexed against his stomach.

In a flash, she was gone, as if she'd never been there in the first place and Chuck felt himself begin to breathe again. Disappointed, but breathing. She'd been gone for a whole minute before he could move. As he splashed his face with cold water, tiny droplets hit against his chest and then slowly followed the same path Sarah's fingers had and he gulped. _Oh no. Gotta stop thinking like that. You're sister is right outside. _With less care, he threw more water on his face and then patted it dry before knocking back the pills and the full glass of water. He dressed quickly and went out to the front. When he saw Sarah putting on her jacket and gathering her things, obviously preparing to leave, he frowned.

"How are you feeling?" Ellie asked when she saw Chuck.

"What?" Chuck turned his attention away from Sarah. "Oh, uh . . . better. Much better, thanks." He looked back to Sarah. "Where are you going?" Sarah looked up at him and if it weren't for the slight hint of a blush and the darker blue of her eyes, he never would have guessed she'd just tried to feel him up in the bathroom. Probably would have been successful, too, if not for Ellie.

"I'm going to visit Evie," she said looking him in the eye. _I've got to get out of here before I do something _completely_ unprofessional._ Against her better judgment, but unable to keep herself from doing so, she walked up to him, intent on having some form of contact before leaving. "But I'll see you at home?"

Chuck swallowed, seeing the flash of desire in her eyes. She was doing a great job of hiding it but it was there. "Uh, yeah, yeah. I'll, uh, I'll be there."

"Great," she said, more breathless than she'd intended. She knew Ellie must have heard that. _Whoops,_ she thought, but refused to feel embarrassed by it. She brought her hand up to caress the side of his face and pressed a kiss to his opposite cheek, afraid that any more would make her take his hand and find out exactly how comfortable a Castle supply closet was.

Ellie watched the exchange carefully. Their words were innocent enough yet the temperature in the room skyrocketed. _Okay, so there is nothing wrong with their relationship._ While Chuck watched Sarah walk up the stairs, Ellie took a moment to regain her composure. Had that kiss not happened the way it did, she might never have known something had happened between the two in the time Sarah'd left the observation room.

Chuck stared at the door for a long while after it'd closed and Sarah disappeared from sight. It was as if he had x-ray vision and could watch her every step toward the door.

"Ahem," Ellie cleared her throat. Only then did Chuck look away from the door and to her. With a knowing smile, she said, "So, I bet you feel a bit foolish right about now."

Not knowing what she was referring to, Chuck replied, "What? I don't feel foolish. Why would I feel foolish?"

"Because you're worried about Bryce coming back," Ellie said, laying all her cards on the table. "You're worried that she's not over him. But I've got news for you, little brother," she leaned over her desk towards him, "Bryce doesn't stand a chance and you're showing a significant lack of confidence in Sarah if you believe he does."

Chuck rolled his eyes and let out an exasperated breath. She'd sort of just figured out what his problem was and now he would have to talk about it. _Damn._

"Why do you feel so threatened by Bryce?" she asked sitting back in her chair. "He's got nothing on you."

"He's just- he's a self-esteem sucker, he just sucks the cool right out of everyone- minus you, Devon, and Sarah- but he takes it to an entirely different level with me. Stanford, Jill, Sarah- it's like there's nothing he won't take from me and I just- I really don't want him to take her." Chuck sighed. Okay, so apparently that _did_ have more to do with it than he'd thought. "On a scale of one to ten, Sarah's at least a fifteen. And me . . . I'm like a steady four. Girls like her don't stay with guys like me, okay? They go with the dashing, debonair, James Bond-y type guys. I'm lucky if I'm Q."

Ellie crossed her arms and responded sourly, "And now you're showing a significant lack of confidence in yourself."

"El-liee," he whined.

"Chu-uck," Ellie replied. "Honestly, when are you going to see yourself how everyone else does? You are one of the most- if not, _the_ most- intelligent person I know and I don't have to look at all this," she pointed to the numerous stacks of mission files, school records, and test results scattered all over her desk, "to know it. You're funny and kind and charming- you've got a lot to offer. Do you really need me or Sarah or _anyone_ to tell you how amazing you are? If so, I really screwed up somewhere along the way."

Chuck gave her a huff laugh. The thought of Ellie screwing up was ludicrous. "Come on, Ellie, you didn't screw up." He rolled his chair closer to her and put his hand on her arm. "You never screw up. I just . . . need to be hit upside the head with a mallet sometimes- apparently. I don't know."

Ellie smiled and smacked the back of his head.

"Oww- hey!" He narrowed his eyes crossly. "I said mallet. Mal-let."

"Well, if I had one, I would have used it," Ellie said, laughing before she shook her head and turned serious. "Stop selling yourself short, little brother. I'm super proud of you. And you should be too. Look at everything you've accomplished in your life and tell me you have no reason to be proud of yourself."

"Well, let's see," Chuck counted off the ways on his fingers. "Teased mercilessly in school, Mom leaving, Dad leaving-"

Ellie rolled her eyes. "Valedictorian, accomplished musician, artist and a Stanford grad, computer nerd by day, saving the world by night- all in spite of the fact that our parents left. Those were things that _you_ did," she corrected. "Chuck, you can't define yourself on the actions of others. You can only define yourself by the choices you make and the things you do. It's _your_ life to live so live it. Go after what you want and don't let anything stand in your way."

Chuck nodded and gave her a tight half-smile. "Thanks, El."

Ellie smiled in return and bumped him with her elbow. "Anytime." The way Chuck's brow rose and fell made Ellie worry. "That's not all that's bothering you, is it? Is the tests?"

"No, it's not that," he assured her. "If I told you something, would you keep it as a sibling thing?"

"As in, don't tell Sarah?" Chuck nodded. She briefly wondered what he would have or want to keep from Sarah but soon enough she would know. Right now it was about taking care of her brother. "Sure, I can do that." Ellie waited for him to speak but he said nothing. "You're not worried that she's gonna leave, are you?" she asked, knowing with ninety-six percent certainty that Sarah wouldn't go anywhere.

"No, no. It's nothing like that." He fell silent for another moment. "The last time Bryce was here, he told me that I needed to stay away from Sarah because having feelings for her or her having feelings for me would get one of us killed." He shrugged helplessly. "I tried . . ."

Ellie nodded, other pieces falling into place. "With Jill. You tried with Jill."

Chuck nodded. "Yeah. I was pretty mean to Sarah too. I called her a robot." He scoffed at himself. "I can't believe she's even with me now." He exhaled slowly. "Anyway, now Bryce is coming back and it just brings what he said to the forefront and I'm worried. I don't want to be the reason she dies, El, I couldn't handle that."

Ellie nodded, knowing that he'd spoken the truth. Stanford and Jill would seem like a cake walk to him if Sarah died.

"I don't know. Things are just complicated."

"Then _un_-complicate them," she explained simply. "Talk to Sarah. Tell her your concerns. Work through this together. You don't have to be afraid of Bryce or what he said, Chuck. In fact, I bet he said that just to keep you away from her so he could have a chance." She narrowed her eyes in thought. "But why are you so concerned? From what I can see, there is absolutely no reason for it at all. There's no question where Sarah will be when it's time for Bryce to leave."

"Talking to Sarah about feelings isn't exactly the easiest thing. Besides things are going so well between us right now and I don't want to screw it up by telling her issues that are more than likely a moot point. Plus, she's got a lot on her plate already with reconnecting with Eve and everything . . . I just- I don't want to add anymore stress."

"You mean, she wasn't just going to check in on Eve?" Ellie knew about Sarah's habit of lingering outside Eve's room. "They're talking again?"

Chuck smiled happily. "Yeah, since yesterday. She's so happy, El, I can't ruin that with my insecurities about all things Bryce related."

Ellie nodded. It made sense.

"When is he coming in anyway?"

Ellie's brow rose. "He's finishing up an assignment in Sri Lanka. It should be either tomorrow or the next day." Finding out Bryce was alive left her more than shocked and then to find out he's the one that sent Chuck the Intersect . . . it's easiest to say the morning had been interesting. Ever since getting involved with the CIA a mere week ago, things had been turned upside down and inside out every other minute. It was a struggle to get used to, but she was adaptable.

Chuck leaned back in his chair and looked at the ceiling. "Wonderful," he said, though from his tone, Ellie could tell he thought it was anything but. Chuck exhaled, pushing away this topic and feeling much better after talking it out with Ellie. He sat up and rolled slightly closer. "Alright, show me what you got. Explain all these numbers to me."

..-. .- - .. .-.. -.- - .- - - . .-. … … - - .-.

Chuck made it home and found Sarah lying on the couch flipping through channels on the TV with a frown. Every time he saw her, he just couldn't help but think how beautiful she was and how lucky he was that she chose to be with him. Til the day that he died, Sarah would always be the greatest thing that ever happened to him.

When Sarah heard the door, she looked up and smiled. "Hey."

Chuck returned the smile with a small one of his own. "Hi." He shut and locked the door and made his way to the kitchen while removing his coat. "I thought you'd still be at the hospital." About an hour after Sarah left Castle, she texted him to see if he minded if she ate dinner with Eve and her family. Of course he said it was okay and that he would grab a bite with Ellie on the way home.

Sarah stretched, reclining back over the armrest. "Yeah, apparently after eating, Evie kind of crashes. And I don't know about you, but hanging out with Beckman isn't high on my list of fun things to do." Deciding Chuck was more interesting, she shut the TV off and threw the remote on the coffee table.

Chuck's smile widened as he hung his jacket on a dining room chair and set his grocery sack on the table. "Well, we did have a pretty good time at the Governor's Ball," he teased. He went to lean over the back of the couch to meet Sarah's eye. "She's not that bad. You might find you like her."

Sarah laughed. She took a moment to consider it and then scrunched her face. "Nah," she said, "I don't think so. Tolerate each other, maybe, but like . . ."

"No faith in our fearless leader, I see. You know, she is your sister's grandmother."

"True," she conceded. "That's a little weird, isn't it?"

"What, no. No, no, no, no, it's not- okay it is a _little_ different," he said. "But, hey, now if Beckman ever gets out of hand, all you have to do is call Eve and she'll set things straight."

Sarah rolled her eyes. She'd never ask her sister to fix a work problem or any problem as of yet since they still had such a long way to go. As much as she enjoyed playful banter, she had something else in mind- spending quality time with her favorite boyfriend. She didn't know why, but he seemed to have put a force field of distance between them that she couldn't stand. This no touching thing of his had to stop or Sarah might just go crazy. She grabbed his shirt and tugged hard.

"Hi-oh," Chuck said as he unceremoniously dropped in on top of her. Her intentions made clear, he shifted a few times trying to make himself comfortable. Finally finding the position, he lifted his head from her chest and looked at her. "Is this okay?"

She smiled. "Perfect." Chuck smiled back and settled down with a sigh. Sarah ran her fingers through his hair and then bent forward to kiss the top of his head. "How's your head?"

"It's not so bad anymore. Especially now," he said drowsily. "You always make everything better." Sarah half smiled lazily. Her fingers moving through his hair and the steady beat of her heart under his ear lulled him into a restful peace, all the days concerns far away from his mind. "How was dinner with the fam, anyway?"

She frowned thoughtfully and said, "They're an interesting group. Beckman is more . . . motherly, I guess, than I would have thought. It's very different from how I know her. Casey's about the same. I think he really likes Grace. It's a nice change of pace watching them interact with each other. He's very doting and chivalrous when it comes to the women in his life. I always saw him as the 'I'll take care of it' kind of guy at work but to see it on a personal level is quite different."

"Yeah, I've started to realize that too," Chuck said, nodding as best he could in agreement. "He's a show-er not a say-er, that's for sure."

"Yeah," she said. "I'm really happy that Evie was able to become part of a family. And not just any family, but a good family. The way she is with Trisha . . . I wish I had a mom like that."

Chuck bit his lip before cautiously asking, "What was your mom like?" Sarah's mom was something they hadn't spoken about before. Parents in general were hardly ever their main topic of conversation but now was as good a time as any to get it out of the way.

Sarah took a moment to think about the best way answer that wouldn't make her mother sound like a horrible person. She still loved her mother and didn't want Chuck to think poorly of her. Things weren't always how they were before she left with her dad. "She was . . . not always bad. There were some good times. It was maybe a year or two after Evie was born that she started drinking a lot and having these drastic mood changes. She became an entirely different person. Evie said it got worse after Dad and I left. I think it was because Dad wasn't there to hide it anymore." She sighed, deep in thought. "I just could never figure out why he didn't take her with us. He must've known, or figured out that Evie wasn't his. That's the only thing I can think of that makes sense."

"Yeah, but that still doesn't make it right. If it was that bad, he should have told child protective services and gotten Eve out of there, even if he still took you away with him." He felt Sarah stiffen underneath him and worried he'd spoken too candidly. It was only for a moment and then she went back to caressing his arm and running her fingers through his hair. When she finally spoke, her tone was surprisingly tolerant.

"I can see how you would think that, but, Chuck, you've never been through the system. Sometimes, you get lucky and you're put with a good family but you have no control over that. A lot of the time you're in a place that's just as bad, if not worse, than where you were before. And even then, sometimes it's not that you're in a bad foster family. It's the kids in school and the stigma that comes along with being a foster child, like it screams 'unwanted' or something."

"Okay," he agreed, not wanting to start an argument. "I'm sorry. You're right; I've never been through the system, but I do know what it's like to be labeled 'unwanted.' I just wish your father had done more."

"I wish _I _had done more."

Chuck pulled back and rested on his elbows to look her in the face as he said sternly and with conviction, "Sarah, you are not at fault. I know you wanna believe that but you were a child. At nine years old, what could you have honestly done differently? And, by the time you were able to do something, you did. So I say again, you are not at fault." Sarah clenched her lips together briefly and stared at him. He knew she was going to try to come up with some kind of argument to maintain guilt but he firmly believed the opposite. "I know Eve believes you hold some fault and she's entitled to her opinion but she's working through that to change it. And if you really think you are supposed to carry this, then you need to work on forgiving yourself, too. Because this is not your burden to carry."

Sarah sighed, unclenching all the muscles in her body. Chuck was right. She needed to figure out how to forgive herself so she could let this go. If she couldn't then a relationship with Evie might not happen and that was unacceptable. To come this far only to fail would be more unbearable than if she'd never had the chance.

Chuck could see her coming around to his thought process even though she'd said nothing. Things like this just needed time and patience. Forgiving yourself was one of the hardest things to do but it was an important step on the road to recovery. As a means of providing comfort, Chuck gave Sarah a soft kiss on the cheek.

Seeing an opportunity, Sarah turned and forced him to kiss her fully on the lips. She felt overcome with a sense of relief that he'd initiated something with her. His keeping her at arms length all day had really gotten to her, more than she'd like to admit. Whatever Ellie said to him must have helped. She'd been worried there for a minute after he'd gotten home.

When the need for air became too much, Chuck pulled back. He nuzzled in to her neck as he worked to catch his breath. Feeling her rapid heartbeat on cheek, he changed his angle to suck on her pulse point, stopping before she had a reason to kick his ass. "You know, parents are a really sore subject with us. Perhaps we should never speak of them unless absolutely necessary," he quipped.

Sarah's laugh sounded like an exhale and she smiled. "Agreed."

Chuck looked up a Sarah with an impish glint in his eye and wiggled his eyebrows. "Ooo, guess what I have for you?"

"What did you get?" she asked slowly, cautiously though she knew it couldn't be bad because of the look in his eye. No matter how much she told him she didn't like surprises, he just wouldn't stop trying.

"Oh, come on, you should guess. You'll ruin the game," he said. "Here, I'll give you a hint. It's cold."

"Cold?"

"Yes. Cold," he said briefly touching his lips to hers. He lightly made his way to her ear. "It starts with an 'r' and if someone hadn't pulled me on top of them, it wouldn't be melting on the kitchen table right now."

Sarah smile largely and turned her head so he'd pull back to look at her. "You got me Rocky Road ice cream?"

He nodded. "Uh huh." He rolled off, bracing himself with one knee in the couch and his other foot on the floor, extending his hand out to her. "I figured since we couldn't have dinner together, I'd get dessert."

Sarah grabbed his hand and let him help her sit up. "Well, I had something else in mind for dessert," she teased, "but this will work too."

"Who says you can't have both?"

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So that's all. If your discouraged by anything in this chapter, I promise the pay off will be worth it. Well, I hope you'll see it as such . . .

Right, well, if you'd like and you so choose, I'd love to hear what you think =)


	34. Chapter 34

Hey guys. I'm really sorry for the delay. Kind of became real life's bitch for a while. It happens . . . unfortunately.

Disclaimer: I own nothing except for what I own.

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Chapter Thirty-Four

Casey and Grace sat on the couch talking. She'd come over for dinner last night and gotten him talking about his different guns. He told her what their names were and different stories regarding them- nothing classified, of course- while showing her how to properly clean, disassemble, reassemble, and load them. Much like Eve, Grace's non-judgmental attitude made it easy to get along with her and he found that he enjoyed his time with her.

Before they'd realized it, it was two o'clock in the morning and Grace had to be back to work in three hours. Rather than having her drive home just to turn around and come back after maybe only thirty minutes of sleep, Casey offered to take the couch to save her some time. His apartment was closer anyway and a couple hours of sleep were better than thirty minutes. She'd agreed but insisted on helping him prepare the couch which led to more idle conversation that Casey couldn't believe he'd been participating in. By the time they looked at the clock again, it was just past four in the morning.

"Are you kidding me?" Grace said. "We've been talking all night."

John looked at the clock and grunted. This was unusual. Time just slipped away. He couldn't remember the last time he'd stayed up all night without a mission involved. "Guess we have. Sorry, I know you have to work today." It was easier for him since he didn't have work.

Grace smiled and shrugged it off. "That's okay. It was worth it. I'll just have my fair share of caffeine today."

"I have some coffee or tea if you want some."

"Sure. That'd be great," she said. John nodded and went to the kitchen. Grace stood up and took a deep breath while straightening her shirt. She was about to follow John when she saw a shadowy figure slink across the courtyard. "John," she said, staring wide-eyed out the window, a slight tremor of fear in her voice.

"I saw him," he said cocking the freshly prepared gun. "Stay here until I come back for you."

"Gladly." It might have been a different story if she'd been alone but John would be able to take care of it much better than her. She watched him go. He was so brave. No fear. A quality she wished she could share. Shaking herself for her thoughts, Grace pulled out her phone and dialed in 9-1-1 just in case John didn't get back as soon as she'd hoped. The aroma of coffee began to fill the air and she went to the kitchen to pull down two mugs. _He likes his coffee black,_ she reminded herself, desperate to occupy her hands to distract her away from worry. She put his coffee in front of a bar stool and open the tea bag he'd already laid out for her, dipping it in the steaming cup of water.

_POP, POP! _

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Sarah slept curled into Chuck's side with her head tucked under his chin. He had one arm loosely wrapped around her shoulder and his hand covering the one of hers resting on his chest. Normally, she wasn't one to cuddle but that changed upon the realization of how nice it felt to just be held with no expectations or ulterior motives other than enjoying another's company. And, damn, if Chuck wasn't a skilled cuddler.

At the soft click of a door, Sarah's eyes sprung open. As if sensing her movement of alarm, Chuck began to stir. "Sar-"

"Shh-" she cut him off quickly, throwing her fingertips over his lips. In that moment, Chuck's eyes widened fearfully but he did as she asked. Sarah waited, senses on high alert. They both heard the door closing with a muted attempt at silence. Sarah reached for her gun and the knife under her pillow and rushed off the bed. "Stay here," she whispered sharply.

Chuck's responding nod was pointless since she'd left before she saw. As soon as Sarah disappeared from sight, he moved closer to the end of the bed, nervously listening for any sounds of distress and made a choice. There was no way he'd stay here when Sarah had no backup. He looked around the room for some kind of weapon, finding only a spare knife. _That'll work._ He stood off to the side of the door, squinting down to way, trying to see anything.

Sarah crept down the hall, gun stretched out before her, knife secured behind for backup.

She heard two muffled pops in quick succession and rushed forward. The light flipped on behind her, illuminating the scene. Obviously, Chuck heard the shots too and wasn't planning to use his good sense and run. But he looked cute standing there with a knife raised all defensive like and confused. She turned her attention back around. Bryce was lying on the floor, gasping for air while Casey stood over him with the smoking gun.

"You shot me," he groaned.

Casey grunted disappointedly, seeing that Bryce had on a vest. One day, he would get him. One day. Casey turned to the hall and saw his partner with her gun at the ready. "Saw you had some pests roaming around. Thought I'd take care of it for you."

Sarah bit back a smile and sighed internally. _Let the games begin._ "Thanks for the backup, Casey." She looked down, no hint of remorse in her features as she studied Bryce. "What are you doing here, Bryce?"

Bryce rolled to his knees and rubbed one hand across his chest. "I went to your hotel first, but they said you'd moved." He winced. "God, Casey. Just go for the head shot next time. Jeez," he complained.

Casey's eyes narrowed as he growled at the weasely man aching on the ground. He wished he'd got him this time.

Ellie appeared in the doorway, robe billowing and then curling around her body as she stopped. She saw Casey's angry expression, the gun by Sarah's side and the knife raised in Chuck's hand, all sets of eyes focused at Bryce lying on the floor, grimacing.

Casey saw Ellie and visibly rolled his eyes. It was getting way too crowded in here. "I'm outta here." The sooner Bryce got that damned Intersect, the sooner he could get out of Burbank. Afghanistan was calling. The slight hint of regret the thought caused made Casey stop for half a second, then shake his head and continue on.

Ellie moved out of Casey's way as she adjusted her robe. "What's going on?"

_Great. Another Bartowski that _doesn't_ run. _Sarah put her gun on the counter, her eyes never leaving Bryce as she stepped closer to him. The knife warming against her back boosted her confidence in case he tried anything funny though it was doubtful. "Bryce dropped in." She extended her hand out to him. "You could've just called, you know."

Bryce groaned as he rolled to his feet, but a kept a playful twinkle in his eye as he looked at Sarah. "That would've been too easy."

Ellie watched Chuck's face fall. "I'll get you some water," he said monotonously. He couldn't believe it. Bryce was in pain and still didn't lose his charm. Ridiculous.

Sarah watched Chuck go as Bryce settled in a kitchen chair. "Excuse me," she said, following Chuck.

Ellie smiled. _Chuck one, Bryce zero._ She turned her attention to Bryce, who sat rubbing his chest. The doctor in her couldn't let him remain unchecked. No matter how much she wanted him to stew, her job was to maintain his health. She rolled her eyes internally and walked over to him. "Alright, Larkin, take off your shirt."

He turned a dazzling smile on her. "Now, Ellie, shouldn't we at least have drinks first?" he quipped, removing his jacket and sliding his shirt over his head.

Her eyes narrowed and she took the shirt from him. "Be careful, or my husband will kick your ass."

Bryce's lips tilted to a smirk as he started to unclip his vest. "Please," he began smugly, "I'm Bryce Larkin."

_And just as cocky as ever._ "Yeah, and clearly invincible," Ellie said dryly as she reached out her finger and shoved it in the bruise forming on his chest, a sadistically pleased smile on her face when he winced. It wouldn't be enough to cause any further damage than what the bullet had done but it was satisfying nonetheless. She lightened up only a little and checked the surrounding area. It had to hurt but it was fun watching him try not to show it. "Well, I think you'll live. There's no permanent damage- besides your ego, of course."

With a tight smile to hide his pain, he said, "Thanks for your concern, Ellie. Perhaps next time you could let it go." He leaned back in the chair making no moves to redress himself.

Ellie clicked her tongue in a fake aw shucks sort of way. "I could but then I wouldn't be doing my job very well, now would I?"

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Sarah found Chuck at the sink filling up a glass of water. "Hey, are you okay?" She knew Bryce had always been a touchy subject, more so recently, and having him drop in out of nowhere would only stir the pot. Bryce shouldn't have that sort of power over their relationship but until Chuck would talk to her, he'd keep it.

"Sure, fine. Just tired," he said, shutting off the water and putting the glass down on the counter. He went to the cupboard where they kept medicines to get some ibuprofen. Bryce would probably need some. He shook his head, rather upset by his compulsive need to help people. Hoping not to worry her, he joked, "I swear, somewhere there is a person against letting us have a full nights sleep."

Still wary, Sarah smiled and stepped closer to him, deciding to play along with the joke over bringing up the elephant in the room . . . or other room as the case may be. "Yeah, I think he could be named Chuck."

Chuck balked, "Uh, hey, why can't it be Sarah? You're just as much a participant as I am."

"Oh definitely," Sarah said, her eyes fluttering with pure bliss, "A more than supremely satisfied participant." The red flush moving up his neck made her chuckle. She rose up to her tiptoes and pressed a kiss to his cheek, before squeezing his forearm and going back to the dining room. Bryce was sitting sans a shirt in the chair and Ellie's eyes were narrowed distastefully. Sarah knew Ellie had good reason to dislike Bryce after what he did to Chuck. Someday, they should discuss it. She folded her arms and leaned against the counter, far away from her old partner. "So, Bryce, you never answered my question. What are you doing here?"

Bryce looked Sarah up and down in gratuitous fashion. She wore a t-shirt and boyshorts, looking sexy as ever. "Well, I came to see you."

Unfortunately, Chuck chose that moment to enter and it was hard to miss the suggestiveness of his tone. With minor dejection mixed with haughtiness that he stepped in front of Bryce, blocking his view of Sarah as he handed over the water and pills.

Unfazed by Chuck's actions, Bryce smiled. "Thanks, buddy."

He returned the smile with a bland one of his own before heading back to the kitchen. Their ice cream bowls still needed to be cleaned. It was a miracle they'd even made it to the sink. An involuntary but totally warranted smile came to his face as the memory of last night rolled through his mind. _See, Chuck, nothing to worry about._ _Nothing to worry about at all._

Sarah wasn't one to be ashamed of her appearance. If it hadn't been the CIA, by the time she was out of High School, her dad might have suggested she use her more feminine wiles for cons and she would have ended up with the same confidence in her looks anyway. But Chuck's attempt at protecting her from Bryce made her smile. Sarah's head tilted forward as Chuck brushed past her on his way to the kitchen allowing her hair to hide the smile she shared with him. Sobering, she looked back at Bryce. "You should have waited until later. It's four thirty in the morning. The briefing isn't scheduled until nine."

"Hadn't thought you'd've minded."

Yeah, Sarah knew exactly what he'd expected. She all but rolled her eyes. "Well, I do so good night and don't let the door hit you on the way out." When Ellie let out one chuckle, Sarah addressed her. "Ellie, what are you doing awake at this hour?"

"Oh, uh, Devon had an early shift." She smiled. "I was fixing up some breakfast when I heard shots." Her eyes widened with horror. "Oh, god, breakfast." She ran for the door, shouting, "I'll see you later."

Sarah laughed and then directed her attention back to Bryce, her current headache. Before she could say anything to him to further him along in his exit, Chuck came back from the kitchen, drying his hands with a towel.

"So, where are you staying tonight, _buddy_?" he asked, adding a hopefully unnoticeable disdain on the term 'buddy.' He wasn't feeling the love towards Bryce. If anything, he was feeling something slightly closer to hate. But Bryce had told Chuck he was his only friend. Chuck could be loyal to a fault sometimes- even when he'd rather have Bryce out of there ASAP.

"Nowhere," he said, "yet." Bryce knew Chuck wouldn't throw him out regardless of how much strain there might be lingering in the room. He sensed something different between Chuck and Sarah but all he could see was that Chuck hadn't done what he'd asked and now it was time to pull out the big guns. Sarah had to be kept safe and she would be safest with him. He needed her too.

"Oh." Chuck felt his stomach drop as leaned against the counter next to Sarah, knowing what would happen next. "Well, you can stay here for tonight and get someplace tomorrow." He mentally slapped himself in the face. _What are you thinking you impulsive moron?_

Sarah turned an incredulous eye to him, one thought running through her mind- _he can?_ Hello? Where was the consultation on that idea?

Just as he'd thought. If Bryce saw Sarah's look, he didn't show it and his mouth slanted to a smirk. "Thanks, buddy."

"Sure," he said. _Stupid, stupid . . ._ Chuck pointed down the hall. "It's the first door on the right." Bryce picked up his shirt, jacket, and vest and basically strutted down the hall. Chuck watched him go and that's when he saw Sarah's less than pleased expression. She pulled her hand back and none too lightly smacked his arm. "Oww! What was that for?" he asked, rubbing out his arm.

"You're letting him stay?" she whispered harshly but not loud enough to carry down the hall.

_Yeah, I know it's stupid. Thanks, Sarah. _Chuck matched her tone only without the harsh edge. "What? The guy needs a place to stay. It's not like he can get a hotel at this hour."

Sarah kept her dumbfounded expression. Chuck's just gonna let Bryce stay here like he had no problem with the man and he doesn't even get the implications? What the hell? "Are you kidding me? He could go to Castle and keep your dad company. It's not like we don't have to be there in four hours anyway."

Chuck knew he shouldn't. He knew, but he just couldn't seem to keep his tongue in check where this was concerned. "Why is it such a big deal? Afraid you won't be able to resist temptation?" The burn of her anger intensified adding to it hurt.

Sarah's jaw dropped, not even bothering to hide her contempt. "Oh, really, Chuck, that is just so like you to turn this around on me. It's not my fault that anytime Bryce is mentioned you turn into some jealous, insecure, petulant . . . _male_." She took off down the hall towards the bedroom. If he knew what was good for him, he'd follow and if he didn't . . . well, they'd talk about it in the morning. But if Bryce found Chuck on the couch, it wouldn't do them any favors in dissuading his advances.

Chuck grimaced at his lack of tact, throwing his arms and kicking once as if that would somehow knock away what he'd said. _Idiot! Why would you say that? _Casey was right. He was a moron- a moron that was not doing a very good job of taking Ellie's advice. For reasons beyond his control- _obviously_- he was having a very difficult time overcoming these feelings of inferiority toward Bryce. All excuses aside, though, he had no right to take it out on Sarah. She'd been nothing but patient with him about it and he'd thrown it in her face. He glanced down the hall, catching the flash of her foot as she disappeared into the darkness of their room. With a deep breath, he checked to make sure the door was locked before heading down the hall after her.

As soon as Sarah heard his footsteps coming down the hall, her shoulders sunk with relief. It'd taken a bit longer than she'd expected. Glancing up, she caught his figure in the doorway. Alas, she was still angry with him, preventing any hope of a forgiving mood. She yanked back on her side of the sheets and started to crawl in. "You know, when your hospitality comes back to bite you in the ass, don't blame me."

He'd come down, fully prepared to apologize but clearly Sarah wouldn't be receptive to one at the moment. She had every right to be pissed off. He had no right to say that. So, instead, he got in to his side of the bed. "Fine."

Misinterpreting his reply, Sarah's eyes blazed with indignation. _That's it?_ She'd been certain he'd try to talk about this, which is what they should be doing rather than arguing childishly about a man who should be pointless in their relationship. Except that he wasn't. Or at least he wouldn't be until they discussed it but Chuck epically refused to do so. He'd rather pretend nothing was wrong- though all signs point to the contrary- rather than talk to her about her ex-boyfriend, if he could even be called that. Thinking back on it, Bryce was little more than convenience. _Alright, fine then. No more talking._ She turned to her side facing away from him.

Chuck winced. _Ouch. The cold shoulder._

_It's best this way, _his conscience argued.

_For now,_ he argued back._ Come on, Chuck, start looking for a shovel to dig yourself out of this._

Unfortunately, he knew what that shovel was. They needed to talk about Bryce.

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Grace stared wildly at the door, her heart-rate jumping through the roof. She fought against her natural instinct to press send on the phone. _John said to wait. He said he'd come back. _Attempting to get a better idea of the situation, she crouched low and crept into the front room looking through the window to see what happened. She saw Ellie run across the courtyard. _Must be her doctorial instincts._ Try as she might, Grace couldn't shake off her halfway frozen state. Slowly, she started to move to the front door, not nearly as gung-ho as Ellie had been about heading into the line of fire. Within moments of Ellie disappearing inside, Grace caught John's figure coming out and she finally felt like she could breathe again. "Oh my god," she said, immense relief overcoming her.

Casey opened the door and saw two mugs on the counter, steam still rising up from each. However, Grace wasn't there. His eyes narrowed, searching around until he saw her in the living room, one hand on her forehead, the other tapping her chest.

Sensing someone watching, Grace turned, knowing it would be John. She swallowed. "Are you okay?"

Casey raised his brow. "Are you?"

"Yeah," she said unconvincingly, "yeah, I'm good. My hearts pounding really fast but I'm okay." Staying awake through her shift would no longer be a problem now with all the adrenaline coursing through her veins.

Casey nodded but didn't press the subject. With heavy feet, he made his way to the bar and sat in front of his coffee.

Grace, feeling much more settled now, took in the weariness radiating off him. The lines of his face had deepened from before. He appeared to have aged within minutes. Immediately concerned, she went to her cup of tea and watched him. His elbows were on the counter, head in his hands, deep in thought. She doubted if he even saw her standing in front of him. "So . . . what happened? Is everyone okay?"

"Everyone's fine. No one got hurt . . . much."

"But the- the guy . . . I heard shots-"

"He's fine. Unfortunately." He ran his hands through hair and sat back. "It wasn't what we thought."

He's being awfully cryptic. "John-"

"Stop."

Grace took a step back in annoyance, intent on defying his request. She deserved to know. She had the right. But that small step allowed her the perspective to see that this event ran much deeper for John than just tonight. As hard as it was, Grace bit back her argument. She sighed and leaned forward to rest her elbows on the counter. "Okay, John. I'll let it go. For now." She ran her fingers her hair and then grabbed his hand forcing him to look at her. "Just . . . fill me in at some point, okay?"

His gaze left hers, wondering if it would be so bad to say something. The problem was that it wasn't that simple. There were things Grace could never know, things he could never tell her. His eyes drifted back to hers. He could tell it was taking her a lot of effort to not ask anything else but she was trying. "It's complicated," he said softly. He groaned at his choice of words. _Complicated? Really? You're starting to sound like Walker . . . or worse, Bartowski._ "But if I can, then . . ."

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Sarah watched the numbers on the clock flip and turn, inching ever closer to that inevitable moment when the alarm would sound and they'd have to move. She'd not fallen asleep after their argument, her anger stewing hotter by the fact that he wouldn't speak. The sun had peaked nearly an hour ago and she'd hoped he'd see it as an opportunity but neither had made a move.

Sooner than wanted, the alarm was one minute away from ringing and she made the first sound heard in hours- she sighed. To avoid the annoying blare, Sarah reached out and turned it off, settling back into her pillow.

"So you're awake," Chuck said.

Sarah sighed again. "Yep." She felt the bed jostle and jumble and she looked over her shoulder to see him on his side facing her.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said what I said. Ellie was right, I am being foolish. I just don't know how to stop these . . . whatever it is with Bryce."

"Chuck," Sarah rolled over and propped herself up on her elbow, "what exactly do you think is going to happen while Bryce is here?"

"I don't know, Sarah." His eyes set on the ceiling in thought and he bit his upper lip. "He just destroyed my life so completely. It's hard not to think that he'd do it again. I didn't mean to drag you into it. I didn't even want you to know about it."

Sarah gave a small sardonic laugh. "It's kinda hard not to notice when you won't talk to me or kiss me or," she reached out and stroked his chest, "touch me." Chuck smiled and grabbed her hand and linked their fingers. "Chuck, I get that Bryce does something to your psyche and I'll give you all the space you need to deal with it. Just . . . please don't push me away while you take it. We're in this together. You and me. And if I ever think that Bryce is going to do something to mess with _our_ lives-" She was going to say something else but his smile turned into a full blown beaming grin. "What?" she asked confused.

"You said our lives."

Sarah rolled her eyes good-naturedly but smiled. "Okay, Chuck."

Chuck tugged her to him and just like two pieces of a puzzle, it was a natural fit. He pressed his lips to her forehead and felt her smile grow, relishing the moment. What would it be like to never have these moments again? It was hard to imagine that if Bryce were right, they'd never happen again. But Bryce couldn't be totally right, right? They've gone through too many things to get to this point just to have it end now. His scruff scratched against her head as he swallowed. "Listen, Sarah, there's something else."

His sudden turn to being serious made her nervous.

"It's not so much Bryce- I mean, that's part of, more so than I originally thought- but it has more to do with what he said the last time I saw him." He rubbed his arms up and down her back, reminding himself that she was there. "The thing is, it hurts less to think of you leaving with him than dying because of me."

"What?" Sarah asked, clearly missing something. "I'm not gonna die, Chuck. And I'm not leaving with Bryce." She propped herself up on her elbow as his eyes shifted back and forth in an effort to organize his thoughts. "Where is all this coming from?"

Chuck sighed. "Bryce told me that spies having feelings gets them killed. He told me to distance myself from you to keep you safe and I couldn't do that and now we're together and I'm over the moon about that but now that Bryce is here too, I keep replaying our conversation over and over in my mind and I am just picturing all these horrible, horrible things happening to you and it's always my fault and there's nothing I can do about it and-"

His words had picked up speed like a run away freight train and Sarah put her hand on his chest make him stop. "Whoa, Chuck, slow down," she said as she started smoothing circles over his chest. "One thing at a time, okay?" He nodded and then she continued. "Alright. Bryce has a point." Chuck sucked in a breath and her hand shot out to cover his mouth before he contested. "He has a point," she repeated and her eyes met his with tenacity he'd missed before, "but we are different. We are better together. We are safer when we have each other's backs. Like you said to Beckman, it's because of our feelings for each other that we are stronger."

Chuck smiled. The anxious knot in his stomach finally started to feel some relief. It's a good thing that Chuck had a sister that's much smarter than he. He'd been getting nowhere keeping this all to himself and talking to Sarah had done wonders so far. Her confidence could be staggering at times. He pulled her back to him and squeezed tightly. "I'm sorry I'm such a doofus sometimes," he said.

Sarah laughed. "It's okay. As long as you don't mind when I am."

"Never," Chuck said, smiling. He turned so she was now under him and gave her a kiss with only the slightest traces of passion and desire. She had to leave for work soon but it was just enough to leave her breathless and wanting more. He rolled off her and burrowed into his side of the bed. Couple hours of extra sleep would do him some good since he didn't have to be in to the BuyMore until noon. "Okay. You get to work now."

Sarah groaned but said laughingly, "Jerk. Get me all hot and bothered and then leave me wanting." She got out of bed, knowing that he was right and she needed to get ready. Had they not needed to resolve their argument, there would have been plenty of time for other activities- not that Chuck would have engaged in such activities when Bryce was in their home but that was beside the point.

Chuck smiled but kept his eyes closed. "Yep. Gotta keep 'em coming back somehow."

Sarah picked up her pillow and hit him over the head with it. He looked up at her, squinty eyed and displeased but then he just wrapped his arms around the pillow and hugged it to him, sniffing deeply.

"Nowhere near as good as the real thing, but it'll do," he said. "Smells like you too."

Sarah laughed and shook her head. "I should hope so. It's my pillow." She went into the bathroom set on getting ready for the day. After a quick shower, she did her hair and make-up and was finishing putting on her jewelry as she walked out of the bathroom to choose her clothes for the day. It didn't take long to settle on a gray skirt and white shirt. She dressed quickly and then sat next to Chuck on the bed. She watched on enviously as he got to sleep. A couple more hours would have been good for her too. She brushed the backs of her fingers lightly down his cheek.

"Chuck?" she whispered.

"Hmm," he mumbled sleepily.

"I'm heading out now. Are you still going to come to Castle before your shift starts?"

"Yeah, definitely." He gave her a tired smile. "I'll bring you some lunch."

Sarah smiled back and ran her fingers through his hair. "Okay. I'll see you then." She leaned over and gave him a kiss goodbye before heading to the door.

"Love you," he murmured, falling back to sleep.

Sarah smiled and shut the door quietly, making her way down the hall. "Good morning, Bryce. Sleep well?"

"I did, thanks," he said. "You?"

"I didn't go back to sleep actually." _Let him take from that what he will, the perv._

"Oh." Deciding it better not to ponder on that too much, he said, "I hope you don't mind I got into your coffee. Would you like some?"

Sarah internally grimaced, knowing that his coffee never tasted like anything but ash. You had to add tons of sugar just to make it tolerable. "No thanks. I'm fine." She went to the fridge and grabbed the bread to make toast. Something light to hold her over until Chuck brought lunch. "So, you gonna get a hotel tonight?"

He nodded. "I am." He watched her, a little annoyed that she kept her game face on. That intense but steady impassiveness left a lot to be desired. He couldn't help but notice how comfortable she looked in this setting. As she should. This was her apartment, after all. "Thanks for letting me stay."

"Don't thank me. It was all Chuck's idea." While the toast was toasting, she decided she wanted a glass of milk. "How are you feeling about getting the Intersect?"

"Excited. It'll be nice to finally have it instead of pretending I do."

The toast popped and she started buttering it. "You're not at all worried about the possibility of going crazy?"

"Nah," he said, "I'm not worried. Mr. Bartowski, I'm sure, has done an excellent job of fixing it."

She nodded and began to eat her toast. "And the missions?"

Bryce shrugged. "Unlimited resources, traveling around the world, adventure. It'll be a dream."

"Sounds like it," she said monotonously. She wanted no part of it but for Bryce, a dream was exactly what it would be.

_Is that a hint of wistfulness I detect, Agent Walker?_ Bryce thought. A plan started to form as Sarah and took her now empty glass and plate to the sink. She rinsed them off quickly and brushed off her hands before clearing her throat.

"Ready to go?"

..-. .- - .. .-.. -.- - .- - - . .-. … … - - .-.

Ellie was explaining the changes she'd made to the Intersect. Stephen couldn't help the smile tugging at his lips. His daughter was clearly in her element. They'd done so much work on this and if she'd been around twenty years ago, this project would have gone much better.

" . . . I'll know more once I can map Bryce's brain but according to his Stanford transcripts, his retention rate is in the ninety-second percentile. Chuck's was the ninety-seventh. So with the five percent difference, I've recalibrated this portion of the code for the Intersect so that it should be more effective in retrieving the data and less stressful on his brain as well."

Beckman nodded. "Excellent work, Ellie. This is fantastic." The hiss of door interrupted anything further she might have said. Agents Larkin and Walker made their way down the metal staircase. The need to throw up was overwhelming and she tried not to swallow but she just couldn't help it. "Please explain this to them," she said quickly and then turned on her heel out of the room.

Though Ellie was concerned by Diane's sudden departure, she decided to do as asked. Now was the time to work. She could ask Diane about it at home. "Alright, Bryce, let's get started. I'll explain things to you while we get you hooked up."

"Well, hello to you to, Ellie."

Ellie rolled her eyes and led the way to the examination room. Thank god she only had to deal with him if he happened to get injured or malfunctioned. Sometimes she thought it'd be better to have Morgan be the one being Intersected but then she realized the fate of the world would be in the hands of a nincompoop and thought better of it. Bryce may be egotistical and it'd gotten him into his fair share of trouble but at least he could get out of it . . . usually.

Bryce shook Stephen's hand. "Mr. Bartowski. Good to see you again."

Much to Sarah's dismay, Chuck's dad gave Bryce an actual real smile. "Bryce. Keeping out of trouble, I hope."

"As much as any day."

Stephen looked back at Sarah. "You coming, Agent Walker?" he asked, not even the smallest traces of warmth or caring to his tone.

Sarah kept her eyes on the way Beckman exited as she answered, "In a minute." She followed the path her superior officer had taken, each step punctuated with a soft click of her heel echoing off the cement flooring. She found Beckman in the kitchenette area with her chin tucked close to her chest. For just a moment Sarah observed Beckman, wondering if it was her place to talk to her. Beckman was her superior officer. Sarah had no business getting involved but . . . Beckman was also her sister's grandmother. As she'd been learning recently, family trumped career. "General?" she questioned softly. "Are you okay?"

Beckman sniffled as she stood straighter, startled by the sudden company. One hand swiped a tear while the other turned on the faucet. "I'm fine, Agent Walker."

Sarah nodded even though Beckman couldn't see her. She wished Chuck or Ellie were here. They were much better at emotional things. "Gen-" She stopped. This wasn't a work related conversation. Sarah tried changing tactics. "Diane-"

Beckman's shoulders jerked at her first name sounding so foreign coming from the young agent. She gulped, swallowing back emotions threatening to consume her until she was confident she wouldn't break. She turned to face the agent, wells of tears sitting in the bottom of her eyes. Sarah looked at her with such concern and confusion. It almost made her break. "I can't do this yet. I need more time."

Beckman rushed past Sarah. She started to follow, her confusion running deeper than before. She'd never seen Beckman in such a state. It was more than a little disconcerting. Beckman was always so stoic and abrupt. Sarah watched as Beckman gathered her things, rushing to get out of there.

"Keep me advised of any progress," she said, taking comfort as she handed out orders. It helped her regain control. She started up the steps, suddenly stopping halfway to the top and looked at Walker, her mask cracking once more. "And please don't say anything to Trisha."

"About what exactly?" she asked genuinely perplexed.

Beckman nodded, realizing Chuck must not have told her what happened. She knew he flashed on Trisha, and she knew what he saw. "Right." She resumed her upward trek. "Good day, Agent Walker."

Sarah waited until the door shut. "What just happened?" she whispered to herself. As she made her way down the hall to the observation room, she tried to piece it together but there was a large chunk of information she wasn't privy to. She shook off her thoughts and opened the door.

Ellie glanced away from the computer screen for a moment. "Hey, Sarah." Seeing the puzzled looked on Sarah's face, she asked, "Everything okay?"

She took a moment to consider the question. "I don't know."

"Diane?"

"Yeah, I'm kind of confused," she said. "But it's not my place." Ellie nodded, filing it away for a later time. "Where's your dad?"

Apparently Sarah wanted to get down to business as well. "He's still working on the suppression device for Chuck. It's okay though. This part isn't exactly his expertise."

Sarah laughed mirthlessly. "It's hard to imagine him not thinking of it as an expertise. He thinks he knows everything."

Ellie shared in the laugh. "Yeah, that he does." She watched the numbers shuffle through on the computer, everything in order. "So what's up with you and my dad?"

"What do you mean?"

"You're like all . . . _civil_ about each other."

Sarah shook her head. "I had nothing to do with that. We were fine and then we weren't." She leaned against the table with her arms folded. "Originally I thought it was part of the eccentric-ness that Chuck mentioned but now I think it has more to do with me and I don't why."

Ellie wrote down a couple notes on her pad. "I think he's dealt with his fair share of CIA agents or something."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

After Chuck had told her about the argument they'd had on her wedding day, Ellie forced her dad to tell her what he said since Chuck wouldn't say. And that's how dear ol' Dad ended up housed at Castle. "It means that my dad told Chuck that you were playing him. It was your job to make him think that you loved him but you've not said it so basically the very first chance you got once the mission was over you'd leave."

Every word felt like a smack on the face. She was mad at him before but now . . . "I wish I could say I don't believe it. When did he say that?"

"At the wedding," she said. "You have noticed they haven't been speaking, right?"

"Well, yeah, but I thought it was because he left and Chuck was just processing things or whatever. I didn't know it had to do with me."

Ellie raised her brow. "You would think my dad would know not to say anything for that very reason but he can be awfully recalcitrant at times."

Sarah nodded in agreement and shook her head in complete shock as another thought struck. "No wonder Chuck was so upset about Bryce. Your dad reiterated all his fears right before he came back. And it seems as if they're old friends."

Ellie nodded, both women lost in thought for a moment. "Out of curiosity, have you really not told Chuck that you love him?"

Sarah shifted her weight uncomfortably. "Um- well . . . not in so many words exactly. I was going to but . . . timing-"

"Sarah, do you love him?"

"Don't be ridiculous, Ellie, of course I do," Sarah said, agitation and annoyance ringing clear.

"Whoa, chill down now. There's no need to get upset."

"Sorry. I'm just . . . tired of that question." Sarah's head shook with frustrated wonderment. "I mean, have I not done enough to prove it or something?"

"It's not about proving anything and there's no such thing as the perfect time." Ellie adjusted her chair to face Sarah. "Let me explain something to you. Chuck can be com_plete_ly frustrating at times when it comes to confidence. He has a ton of it but it's buried beneath all this other crap. And you're absolutely right to think he should get it but you also have to remember that he's so used to having people leave him that he hasn't accepted what he knows to be true." She raised one hand. "So you can be right and be angry with him every time the situation comes up," and then raised the other, "or you can help him. Chuck doesn't need to be coddled but he does have be told every once in a while. And no one can provide that reassurance quite like you'd be able to."

"Huh."

Ellie's brow rose with satisfaction seeing the beginnings for comprehension blossom across Sarah's face. "Plus, I bet it'd go a long way in assuaging his fears."

"Huh," she said again giving a thoughtful nod. Why hadn't she thought of that?

Ellie smirked to hold back the laugh. "Something to think about."

..-. .- - .. .-.. -.- - .- - - . .-. … … - - .-.

Chuck entered Castle in ostentatious fashion, sliding down the railing balancing two boxes of pizza, one large and one personal size. He hit the landing and spun in a circle before dancing off to the music emanating from his headphones toward the conference room to put the boxes down. Once he set them on the table, he went to the kitchenette to get paper plates and napkins for them.

Ellie and Sarah chatted about the plans for the rest of the day as they made their way down the hall. They'd decided to take a break knowing that Chuck would be there soon with lunch. Ellie was almost done with Bryce and then after a few checks and a test run, he should be ready to download the new Intersect. They got to the conference room and found the pizzas as if they'd magically appeared.

Sarah smiled. "Chuck's here."

Ellie laughed. Sarah was practically bouncing on her toes and Chuck wasn't even in the room. It was completely ludicrous that she hadn't told Chuck that she loves him yet. "Wow, you are so sad," she teased.

"I know, right?"

"Hello lovelies," Chuck said, placing the plates and napkins on the table.

Ellie took a plate and opened the large box of pizza, gasping at the toppings. "Chuck, there's olives all over this pizza."

"I know." Chuck picked up the smaller box and twirled to Sarah. "Which is why I got you this one." He opened the box and held it out to her with a cheeky smile. "See? Your favorite."

Sarah's grin grew. "Never doubted you for a second." She took the box and inspected the pizza. "Looks delicious. Thank you." She rose to her tiptoes and kissed his cheek, keeping it pg while at work.

..-. .- - .. .-.. -.- - .- - - . .-. … … - - .-.

Bryce saw Chuck had brought lunch for everyone and went to get Stephen. He was sitting in the next section over working on his computer. From the few breaks they'd taken in the day, Bryce could tell that Chuck's dad was less than enthusiastic about Sarah supposed relationship with Chuck. There was an obvious tension lingering between them. Personally, Bryce wasn't too happy about it either. Sarah's a spy, through and through. She's needed in the field, not as a babysitter. It had gone on for far too long. "Hey, Mr. Bartowski," he said, sliding in the seat across from him.

Stephen paused for a moment in his typing and looked up. "Bryce," he acknowledged and then resumed working.

Bryce listened to the click, click, click of keys- waiting, assessing. Certain that no one was coming, he started in on his proposition. "Listen, Mr. Bartowski, I could use some help. And so could you."

Stephen took a breath and directed his attention to the young agent. "And just what is it that you think I need help with?"

"You don't like Agent Walker being near Chuck," he said simply. From Stephen's reaction, Bryce knew his instincts had been right. "And I want her on my team, where she belongs, after Chuck no longer has the Intersect."

"I assume you have a plan to make that happen."

"I always have a plan." Bryce smiled. "Here's what we'll do. I'll get Sarah alone, remind her of what she's missing- do a little schmoozing if you will. All you have to do is tape it and show it to Chuck once we're on our way to saving the world. I get my partner back and she's away from Chuck. A win-win for both of us."

"And if it doesn't work?"

"It'll work," he replied confidently. "Sarah's an agent to her core. Besides she loves me."

Stephen looked up to see Sarah laughing at something Chuck was saying to Ellie, her eyes focused solely on him. Though her arms were crossed protectively across her body, there was no tension in her face. "You're sure about that?"

Bryce looked behind him, but didn't allow the sight to deter him. "Positive." As if knowing she was being watched, Sarah turned to see both Stephen and Bryce staring. She gave them an uncomfortable smile and Bryce gave her a tiny wave. "She'll be like putty in my hands."

..-. .- - .. .-.. -.- - .- - - . .-. … … - - .-.

That's all for now. If you'd like to, I'd love to hear what you think. Thanks for reading =)


	35. Chapter 35

A/N: Hey guys. I hadn't actually meant for this to take so long to get out for you guys but it's been a hell of a few weeks. I'm really sorry but this, unexpectedly, had to take a back burner for a little bit. Hopefully everything is back on track now.

Thanks so much to all of you for continuing to read and review and favorite and alert. I love hearing from you all!

And thank you, Bill for beta-ing =)

..-. .- - .. .-.. -.- - .- - - . .-. … … - - .-.

Chapter Thirty-Five

"Hey, Ellie," Sarah said, entering the small observation room. "How's it coming along?"

"Oh, we're almost done." She stretched in her seat and sighed. "Wow, it's been kind of a long day," she muttered to herself. She gently rubbed underneath her eyes, still tired from the morning's adventure, and she looked up at Sarah. "So, how's your day?"

Sarah shifted a paper in one of the reports sitting out. It was filled with tables of numbers she wouldn't understand unless they were explained. "About as productive as yours." Ellie leaned back revealing the large stack of files once hidden. Sarah frowned. "Or maybe not." She hadn't stuck around to watch Ellie work with Bryce like she had with Chuck, instead choosing to do desk work- analyzing intelligence, reviewing reports; that sort of thing.

Ellie smiled and crossed her arms, returning her attention to the computer screen. The smile slowly slipped away, her face becoming more guarded as she refocused on her work. She chewed on her lip apprehensively, running over the statistics from the day. "In a couple days, I'll be able to do a test run on Bryce. He should be fully rested before we try."

The innocuous statement sounded more like voicing a thought rather than starting a conversation. Sarah's brow furrowed as she observed her companion quietly. There was a certain rigidness to Ellie's body, a tenseness filling her features as she stared at the computer screen. Ellie was stressing. "You seem worried."

Ellie shrugged. "I don't know. It's hard to think that I could play a hand in making someone lose their mind." She let out a humorless chuckle. "I may not like Bryce but I don't want to cause him harm either."

"You don't?" Sarah quipped, trying to ease Ellie's mood. "Well, that makes one of us."

"I believe in karma," Ellie said with a smile before adding with levity, "plus, I took an oath." The computer beeped and she sucked in a deep breath as she leaned forward to press the microphone, switching to the task at hand. "Okay, Bryce, that's all for today. You did great."

"_Oh, we've graduated to compliments now? Excellent."_

Ellie rolled her eyes. "My god, its amazing that man's ego fits in this building." Passing a quick glance to Sarah, who was smiling and nodding in agreement, she made some final notations. "How did you ever manage to date him?"

"Looking back on it, I wonder the same thing," she responded dryly, sharing a small laugh with Ellie and then she shrugged. "He's not that bad all the time." Sarah didn't hold anything against Bryce anymore. While she'd never again have the same trust in him that she'd once had, he had been someone she'd known well, someone she'd fought death with, someone who'd saved her life and someone whose life she'd saved. Even if their status at the moment was in limbo, Bryce, in some way, would be an important figure in her life.

Ellie nodded, knowing that to be true. A lot of the annoyance with Bryce stemmed from his cockiness- and a lot of that was for show. When she'd met him while Chuck was at Stanford, he was quite a bit different than he was now. Now, he was much darker, much more cynical. He looked like he was already carrying around the weight of the world on his shoulders. He just seemed so tired, which was partly why she wanted to wait.

Sarah watched as Ellie began to clean her work space for a moment before directing the conversation back to Ellie's concerns. "You fixed the code though, right? Odds are Bryce won't go crazy."

"True." Ellie took a measured breath. "I think it's just kind of hitting me how important all of this is. I mean, don't get me wrong, the research aspect is fun- fascinating, even. But the thought of applying it . . . . If I screw up, thousands of secrets could be lost, people could die, Bryce could go crazy, the world could end-"

"Wow, Ellie, I think you're making this a little bigger than it has to be," Sarah said, flabbergasted by the revelation that the normally calm, collected Eleanor Faye Bartowski could blow something out of proportion. "You're psyching yourself out." She moved closer and knelt down to meet Ellie's eye. "Look, the Government has been protecting our country for a long time before the Intersect was around. Sure, it gives us a distinct advantage over the competition but that doesn't mean it's the only way to keep ahead in the game. Honestly, the Intersect didn't even work all that well until Chuck had it." She put a comforting hand on Ellie's forearm. "There is no one more qualified than you to do this, Ellie. I believe that. I do. There is no problem that you can't fix. So don't overwhelm yourself by borrowing trouble, okay?"

Ellie gave her first genuine smile of the afternoon. Perhaps she was turning this into something it wasn't. "Kay." She blew out a relieving breath through her teeth and shook out her hands in an attempt to quell her mounting anxiety. "Okay, so moment of crisis past. Sorry," she looked at Sarah sheepishly before admitting, "I guess sometimes I'm not as together as I appear."

"We all have our moments," she responded with a smile. "And, as I'm learning, that's what friends are for."

"Thanks."

Sarah nodded once as if to say, you're welcome. "You gonna be okay?"

"I'll be fine." She locked away the files she didn't want to take with her. "I'm going to go home, curl up on the couch with my husband- watch a movie or something- and all will be right with the world once again."

With a wistful smile, Sarah replied, "That sounds nice." And if Chuck didn't have to close tonight, that's exactly what she would want to do, too. It surprised her how little she missed going on missions. It'd been about a month or so since their last one and the itch wasn't scratching. Funny considering just a few years ago, three days without a mission had been way too much idle time.

"I'm absolutely, one hundred percent sure it will be," she said confidently, grabbing the few remaining files she would take with her. "Would you get the door?"

"Of course."

Ellie led the way down the hall. "You going to spend sometime with your sister tonight?"

"That's the plan," Sarah said. "Chuck has to close tonight so," she shrugged, "it's something to do- not that she isn't a priority or anything. I just don't want to impos . . . why are you shaking your head?"

"Because you always seem to think you're imposing on people and that's just insane," Ellie said, dropping the files on her desk before putting them in her bag to carry. "We've had this conversation before, Sarah. You're a valued member of people's lives' and when you're valued, you're never an imposition. The only type of," she held up her fingers to signify quotation marks, "'imposing' you should be doing is against the bad guys. Of which, I have no doubt you excel at." She slid the strap of her messenger bag over her shoulder in a way that reminded Sarah of Chuck and folded her jacket over her arm, fixing Sarah with a pointed glare. "Confidence, Sarah. It's all about confidence. And, as long as I'm being forward, your confidence in yourself- as a person, not an agent- is buried under just about as much crap as Chuck's and I think that's part of why you think you impose on people."

Sarah clenched her lips together and looked down. Ellie was probably right. She usually was about these things. Being an agent had given Sarah a confidence she'd never had growing up. Much the same as when conducting a con. Somehow, she'd always managed to get the job done and yet it never translated to her as an individual. She'd known that. It was not news to her. Being called out on it, however, had never happened before.

"It's nothing to be ashamed about, Sarah," Ellie said. "These things take time." She gave a rather wicked grin. "And now you have a study buddy."

Sarah laughed. "Okay, well, I'm going to go say goodbye to my study buddy and then visit my sister." In typical Ellie fashion, giving advice obviously helped her to regain the balance she'd lost.

While Sarah gathered her things, Ellie took one last look toward her dad working away in the conference room. As if sensing her gaze, he looked up. Half his mouth quirked in an almost smile as he waved goodbye. Returning his attempted smile with a sad one of her own, she waved back.

Sarah caught the exchange but declined to comment, instead double-checking that she had everything.

Ellie shook off her moment of solemnity, her smile changing to one of a more forced nature. "Ready to go?"

"Lead the way."

..-. .- - .. .-.. -.- - .- - - . .-. … … - - .-.

"Hey, Mr. Bartowski," Bryce said, smiling as he came out from the locker area. "Is the camera ready?"

Stephen regarded the young man quietly for a moment. "Bryce, I'm not going to help you."

"What?" Bryce looked affronted. "Why not?"

"First of all, there's nothing to help with." As he stood up, he closed the lid of his laptop until it was almost shut and walked around to the same side of the table as Bryce. "If you want to seduce Agent Walker, more power to you. I won't say anything. But I can't record it for you. As much as I don't want them together, I can't go so far as to actually get in the way."

"I've never asked you for anything, Stephen, and I've done everything you've asked of me. I kept your secret, I kept your son from being recruited-"

"Yeah and destroyed his life in the process."

"Hey, you never told me how to do it, you just said to do it," he said, his voice steeled with a fierceness bordering on desperation. "Did you have a better idea, o' wise one? Because, frankly, that was the best I could come up with on the fly. I had a walk across the courtyard to come up with a plan. There may have been other ways but I didn't have time to figure them out since you so conveniently waited until fifteen minutes before Chuck was supposed to meet with Professor Fleming."

"Well, you dragged him in anyway by sending him the Intersect- which you were supposed to send to me."

Bryce threw his hands up. "I was _shot!_ And in a hurry." He shook his head. "I didn't have time to- oh you know what? It doesn't even matter. Sorry I didn't meet your expectations and drew you out of hiding, Orion."

Bryce's tone made a light bulb go off. Stephen shook an accusing finger at Bryce. "That's what you wanted all along, wasn't it? You knew the only way for Chuck to get it out was to find me. You wanted it to happen."

"So what if I did?" Bryce interrupted with a shout. "Chuck has a right to know about his father, Stephen. Even after you left, did you know he still spoke about you like you walked on water? That after everything, you were still awesome in his eyes? Sometimes it wasn't like that but the majority of the very few times he would actually speak about you, it was always good things."

"You talk about Chuck as if he's your friend," he said condescendingly. It wasn't fair. Bryce had been a good friend to Chuck and he had done what Stephen asked of him.

"He _is_ my friend."

"And yet you want to take his girlfriend. The first one wasn't enough?"

Bryce held up a hand in protest. "It's not that simple."

"From where I'm standing, it is."

Bryce sighed and shook his head. "Whatever." This was not a conversation he wanted to get into with the man he tried so hard to impress. It didn't help that Brickwall Stephen was back in action either. _Like he ever left._ There was no reasoning with him. Instead of trying, he headed for the exit, giving the last words of the discussion, "You know, Stephen, you and I are not all that different. Don't forget that when Chuck walks away from this."

Stephen watched Bryce go as he reclaimed his seat heavily. This was ridiculous, getting into an argument with anyone you talk to. Tiring, in fact. He rubbed his face with his hands for just a moment before brining his arms down to either side of the laptop. Keeping his gaze on the computer, he decided whether or not to open it again. It only took a moment but with his decision made, he swallowed thickly and reached out a tentative hand, slowly raising the lid once again. What he saw made him sigh, for upon the screen played memories of a young scientist and a beautiful CIA agent. Only this time, replace the young scientist with his progeny and you have your image.

Through the surveillance feed on the Buy More, he watched Chuck hand a small card to Agent Walker and her eyes lit up. When she opened the card to read, Stephen zoomed in to find that it was a 'Get Well Soon' card. _Hmmm. Interesting. _He zoomed out again, lip reading as best he could.

'_I think Evie will like this,'_ Walker said, smiling.

_Who is Evie?_ Stephen thought momentarily before putting all his attention back on the screen. Chuck said something that Stephen couldn't quite catch. From the way Chuck stood, his body blocked a good camera angle. But whatever he'd said made Agent Walker laugh. They seemed to laugh a lot together- which was a good thing. Above all else, watching them in silence made one thing strikingly clear.

They were in love.

It hadn't been the first time he'd seen it. It had, however, been the first time he acknowledged it. Stephen's jaw ticked as an internal war waged within him. He wanted his kids to be happy. And somehow, after all the obstacles put in their way, they'd found a way to do that. Ellie had become a doctor- her dream for as long as Stephen could remember. She had found a good man who would always take care of her. She would never want for anything. She would be okay.

Chuck seemed to have a little more trouble finding happiness but he'd also had his future ripped out from under him by his best friend . . . and his father. Stephen had to accept the part he played in that too. But through all that, Chuck still found it in him to care about other people, to love. He may have wallowed in misery but it never changed his compassion. And Walk- . . . he sighed and changed his mind- _Sarah_ was a great example of that. Despite being a ruthless agent, Chuck had managed to see the woman beneath it all. Sarah would nurture Chuck and help him find his way as he helped her find hers too. There was nothing she wouldn't do for Chuck. It showed in all the mission reports, all the surveillance he'd uncovered from Castle. She may not have said it, but she loves Chuck. One day, she would find the courage to tell him.

Now he kind of wished he had agreed to help Bryce, if only to watch her kick his ass. He let out a sadistic laugh as he thought of the look on Bryce's face. With the sheer amount of cockiness that boy had, he'd never see it coming. But Bryce was an entirely different matter. Stephen did still want the best for Bryce. Perhaps Sarah putting him in his place would help him get there. Bryce was a good man. Jaded for sure, but good. And he was right.

They weren't all that different.

Stephen's chuckle turned pained as he held his head in his hands. With all the hope he had left- which wasn't much- he hoped that Chuck wouldn't have to follow in his shoes, wouldn't have to make the same mistakes as he did. He hoped Sarah wouldn't force Chuck's hand and wouldn't make the same choices his wife did. And if she did, he hoped it was before children came into their lives. He hoped they could make it work.

He hoped.

..-. .- - .. .-.. -.- - .- - - . .-. … … - - .-.

Sarah arrived at Eve's room with a smile on her face, pausing just before entering to finish off her message to Chuck to let him know she'd made it safely. They'd been texting all day since he'd woken up again- which was good considering their earlier argument. It amazed her how much they had to talk about. They never ran out of things to say to each other. And now that they were together, it was even better. There weren't as many awkward pauses or strangled, suffocating stares. It was comfortable. It was natural. Except, of course, when Chuck was all broody and mopey.

She slid her phone in her pocket and walked into the room. "Hey."

Eve lifted a tired hand. "Hi."

"Wow, you look exhausted," Sarah said, immediately concerned.

Eve gave a small shake of her head. "Just one of those days." She attempted a reassuring smile but it probably looked more forced than anything.

Sarah gave a tight smile back. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay."

Watching Evie like this made Sarah feel so helpless. She could only imagine what it must be like for Casey and Trisha- even Beckman. And they'd gone through this twice. Sarah scooted her chair closer to the bed. "Um, Chuck made you a card," she said, handing over the envelope. Conversation had gotten easier the past few times she'd been here but they still had a level of awkwardness they had to push through to get started.

Eve's brow rose in surprise. "'Made me a card?'" This time, her smile appeared more natural. "Well, that's nice of him." Gingerly, she took the card from Sarah but laid it on her stomach, unopened. She'd need a moment before trying to open it. Today her fingers were more swollen than usual. Her mom had to feed her breakfast and lunch because she couldn't keep a grip on the utensils. Noticing Sarah's curious glance, Eve explained, "My fingers hurt to bend."

"Oh," Sarah said, rising a bit in her chair. "Do you want me to open it?"

"Nah, that's okay," Eve said with a shake of her head, "I want to try first but I just need a minute."

"Okay, sure," Sarah said. Still the same old Evie. Even when they were younger, she always wanted to try before she'd let Sarah help.

Eve's eyes slip closed as she took a couple breaths in preparation. Ready to try, she turned the card over with shaking hands and used the backs of her finger to lift the envelope flap. Sarah was grateful she hadn't thought to seal it, which would have made this exceptionally more difficult for her sister. Eve curled the fingers of one hand around the opening to the envelope so that when she pulled on the card, it would come. One more deep breath and Eve pulled, revealing a picture that made her chuckle. He'd drawn the scene in Alien where it's coming out of the guy's stomach with Yoda hovering over him, his hand extended out like he were healing him.

_Hey,_

_I tried to find you a fun get well card_

_(if there is such a thing . . .) anyway _

_I couldn't find one I liked and Casey _

_told me you like the movie so I _

_thought I'd make you one with a _

_little 'Chuck Flare' if you will._

_Wishing you a swift recovery . . ._

"You're boyfriend is a _huge_ nerd," she said, turning to Sarah. "But really sweet." She turned the card over and admired the picture once again. "And quite talented, too. Look at the detail in this picture. It's amazing."

"He's pretty good, isn't he?"

Her voice dripped with admiration sounding through every word and it made Eve smile. She'd never seen them together. All she knew were stories from Uncle Casey and the things she could infer from how they spoke about each other. For Chuck, they'd only had one conversation but it was enough to convince her to talk to Sarah. And for Sarah, she never remembered her sister liking another human being so much. There was just something different about her when she talked about Chuck. "You should ask him to come next time."

Sarah's lips twitched as she tried to hold in a smile. Eve wanting to get to know the most important person in her life was a big step. Sure, she was aware that Eve knew a lot about him but knowing about him and knowing him were very different things. And, strange as it was, she wanted Eve's approval. "I think he'd like that."

What had started as a smile turned into a yawn. Eve brought her hand up to cover her mouth. She shifted around on the bed before relaxing against it. She blinked sleepily, her gaze landing on Sarah in tired slits. "I don't know what the deal is today, but I feel . . . funny, I think might be the best way to describe it." She lost herself in thought for a brief moment before shaking it off. "Anyway, I'm sorry I'm not much company."

Sarah reached out and caressed Eve's arm. "Don't worry about it." She paused, not knowing if it was her place to continue. Well, she had to become the big sister again at some point and quite pussy-footing around. With that in mind, she continued, "But if you're not feeling well, I should get the doctor." As Sarah began to stand, Eve grabbed for her arm.

Eve's arm jolted in pain at the contact but she held on. "It's okay." She swallowed back tears and let go, satisfied that she'd had Sarah's attention. "I just need to sleep it off."

"Evie, it's not okay." She gave an internal wince as the automatic nickname rolled off her tongue. It took a conscious effort to remember to call her 'Eve' instead. "If you feel like something is off, you have to tell somebody."

"If something were wrong, they'd've told me when they came in last time," she reasoned. "It's not like they aren't in here enough anyway. Besides, they'll be back in like twenty minutes. There's no way something has happened between now and the last time they were here."

"It could've. It doesn't have to take long for things to go to hell in a hand-basket."

"Sarah, I'm fine. . . . or at least as fine as I can be. It's probably just all in my head anyway."

Sarah sighed and pursed her lips, still clearly torn between listening to her instincts or listening to Eve.

"Please let it go? I swear it's not very long until they'll be back again."

"Fine," she said, reclaiming her seat and folding her arms over her chest. "But I don't have to be happy about it."

Eve chuckled at her sulking sister. "That's true. But it sucks having people prod at you all day so I'd rather let them keep to their schedule."

Sarah had to admit, if she were in Eve's position, she wouldn't like either. "But if it's with good reason-"

"Seriously," she interrupted, "you can_not_ tell me you wouldn't feel the same." The smirk that started to appear on Sarah's face said it all. "That's what I thought," Eve said, snuggling deeper into the bed. She shut her eyes on a sigh.

Sarah's phone vibrated in her pocket, distracting her from Evie for the moment. She pulled it out, hoping it was from Chuck even though they'd said goodbye four times walking in here. Unfortunately, it wasn't him. It was Bryce. Ignoring the message for now, she put her phone away and looked at Evie. Her eyes were shut and her breathing had almost evened out. Perhaps she should leave her to rest. So she wouldn't wake Evie, she said softly, "Hey, I'm gonna get going so you can rest."

"Will you stay?" she whispered back. "Until my mom comes back?"

Sarah gave her a soft smile though her eyes were still closed. "Okay. I won't leave you." _Ever again, _she added silently to herself. She kept watch over Eve until her breathing finally evened out and then stared even longer. Very little about Eve aside from the blue eyes that couldn't be seen would signify their family resemblance. Gone was the blond hair they used to share in common. Where Sarah had even, lightly tanned skin, Eve's had been dulled and gray. Where Sarah had toned muscles, Eve's had withered with the treatment. Sarah had found pictures from when Eve had been a competitive gymnast and the difference between then and now was astounding. She wouldn't have doubted Eve's ability to keep up in the wrestling matches they used to have as children. Sarah used to always win those but Eve would have certainly put up a good fight in her prime.

Sarah's phone vibrated again, a reminder of her previously received message. With Eve resting soundly, she pulled out her phone again and read the message.

_Dinner? I'm staying in the Hilton . . ._

Sarah released a slow breath, deciding what to do when Trisha walked in.

"Did she fall asleep on you?" she asked quietly.

Sarah looked at Trisha for a brief moment and then back to Eve with a fond smile. "Yeah."

"Don't take it personally," Trisha said. "She's done it to all of us."

"No worries," she said with a small laugh. Her gaze turned pensive as she looked upon Eve. "She's seems a bit more run down than usual today."

Trisha nodded slowly in agreement. "I've been noticing that too. But, she insists she's just fine."

"You don't believe her?"

Trisha took a moment to consider her answer. "I wouldn't say I don't believe her. She just tries to keep so much to herself. It's almost like she thinks if she's too much of a burden, we won't stick around."

Sarah nodded with understanding. It was a feeling she could completely relate to.

"Over the years, we've worked through a lot of that and I thought it passed but there are moments where it seems like it's only been days since we've been together and she walks around on eggshells." Trisha watched Eve, love shining in her eyes. "So much of her early life was contingent on what she could bring to the table to keep people around and I guess old habits die hard."

"That they do," Sarah said, knowing exactly how hard it is to fight against your natural instinct to run away from good things, to believe you were unworthy of receiving them. Hell, she was going through it right now. "How did you come to adopt her?"

"Mmm, well . . . has Eve told you anything about it?" Sarah shook her head and Trisha responded with a nod. "Okay, it- it's kind of complicated but without getting into too much detail on her side of thing- I don't know what she wants you to know, so bear with me- but, uh, what do you know about John and me?"

"Not much. I know you were his asset and that the company you used to work for experimented on prisoners of war but that's about all."

"Okay, that's the basics," Trisha said. With Sarah being an agent and John's partner, she decided give her a little more background about her situation. "I told the Ambassador about what they were doing and he told someone . . . next thing I knew, David and John were knocking on my door. It took some time but we finally made headway in taking down the corporation. Unfortunately, David and I started a hidden romance." She smiled reminiscently. "Actually, that part was pretty fun. He was an amazing, amazing man. But our relationship caused a slip up and they found out it was me who had been informing the U.S. of their nefarious activities. They, uh, they kidnapped me and had a good time torturing me before David and John could rescue me."

She blinked away the less than pleasant memories. "Anyway, when the mission ended, David accepted a promotion that took him out of the field and we got married. We sort of decided that life was too short and took the bull by the horns- started a family right off the bat- but . . . well, the drugs they used when they tortured me caused tiny tumors to slowly grow throughout my endocrine system and I . . . I lost our baby." She swallowed hard, fighting back tears. "I was beside myself with grief. The doctors had to take everything to keep me alive but that meant I couldn't have any kids at all and . . . well that didn't sit too well with me. I became completely despondent. After a few days of this blinding numbness consuming me, David took me out for some fresh air, thinking it'd help. I guess in a way it did.

"This unmarked car pulled up to the hospital and Eve was shoved out of the passenger side before it sped off. David ran after the car for a bit but all I could see was Eve. She was unconscious and severely beaten. I carried her into the hospital, demanding that she be taken care of by the best and refusing to leave her side. I think David just went with it at first since she woke me up again. He told me once that she brought back that spark to my eyes. The therapist said I was replacing my baby with Eve- which was probably true, but here was this beautiful little girl just thrown out of car. I mean, they hardly stopped before they pushed her out. While I was sitting with Eve, David searched for her parents found out she was in foster care and that was it. She wanted us, I wanted her, David _really_ wanted her. They hit it off almost immediately. We all did. It was a bit serendipitous how things have come together since then- with you and everything."

"Hmm." She'd never thought about that before. Almost like it was fate or something . . .

"So," Trisha slapped her legs, disrupting Sarah's thoughts before they could get any deeper, "are you sticking around for a while?"

"Oh, uh," Sarah shifted uncomfortably in her seat and looked at Eve.

"It's okay if you don't want to," she said, sensing her discomfort. "I was just going to be reading my book until dinner anyway."

She looked at Trisha apprehensively. "Will she be mad?" The last thing Sarah wanted to do was make Eve be upset with her because she didn't keep Trisha company.

Trisha smiled. "No, she won't be mad. If she had her choice, she wouldn't be hanging out in a hospital either. It just takes some getting used to."

Sarah gave her a smile and nod. "Okay, well, then I think I'll be back tomorrow. She asked to have Chuck come by with me next time." Much as she hated to admit it, Trisha made her nervous in the same way that Ellie made her nervous. And it was always around them that she felt the loss of her mother the most.

"Oh that's nice. John and Diane speak so highly of him. I'm sure she'll just love to meet him."

Sarah smiled. "He's a fantastic guy. I'll sure they'll get along famously." She gathered her belongings and headed for the door. "Let me know if you need anything, Trisha."

"I will," she said. "You take care of yourself, Sarah."

"I will."

..-. .- - .. .-.. -.- - .- - - . .-. … … - - .-.

After driving around aimlessly for almost an hour, Sarah found herself sitting in her car outside of Bryce's hotel, debating with herself. She'd already been here for fifteen minutes but she hadn't told Bryce yes or no yet. It was just a matter of deciding if she'd actually follow through. One glance at the clock said it was only six thirty. It's not like she had anything better to do tonight. Chuck would be at work all night so she'd just be sitting at home and the distraction would be nice. But was this okay? It was only dinner. And they're friends- or some version of the word that you could be with a former partner-slash-lover who'd betrayed you and thrown your life off its neatly balanced and rotating axis and who was the person your current lover, the love of your life, had issues with.

Yeah, this wasn't okay.

Not if Chuck didn't know.

Sarah sighed and rested her forehead on the steering wheel. She pulled her phone out of her pocket, knowing the path to her speed dial by heart and called Chuck without a single glance at the screen. It took almost the full ring cycle for him to finally pickup.

"_Hey, Beautiful. What's up?"_

"Chuck, I have something to ask you, okay," she started in cautiously, deciding it was better to just ask as though she were ripping off a bandaide, "but don't feel like you have to say yes."

"_Oo, sounds kind of serious. Are you okay?"_

"Yes, I'm fine." She closed her eyes and sighed. "Bryce asked me to dinner." There. Simple. It was out and he could say no and everything would be normal.

"_Oh."_ He paused for a long while and Sarah let him think it out without interruption. _"So is this a friendly warning then?"_

He sounded very guarded and tentative. "No, it's actually me wanting to know what you think about that." The silence built again. Maybe she shouldn't have said anything. Maybe she should have just sucked it up and had a night alone.

"_Well, if you want to go, that's up to you-"_

"Seriously, Chuck, just answer the damn question." God, the man was infuriating sometimes. Just give a straight answer! Assert yourself!

"_You didn't ask me anything."_

"Chuck-" She held her breath, taking a moment to calm her frustration. "Please just tell me if it's okay or not. I don't want to upset you. I want to know that if you say yes, you're not going to hold it against me. I want you to know that if you say no, I will not hold it against you." She heard him sigh. "Just tell me what to do- I don't know what to do."

"_Well . . . just be careful and have a good time."_

"Okaay," she said slowly. It wasn't the answer she'd been expecting. "You're sure? You won't be mad?"

"_Nope. I trust you."_

Sarah smiled even though he couldn't see. That was a relief to hear. "Okay. Good."

"_Hey, Sarah?"_

"Yeah?"

"_Thanks for checking with me."_

"Thanks for trusting me."

"_I love you."_

Her smile grew with his words. _Say it back. You know you want to. And he's not going to reject you. Now's your moment . . ._ she taunted herself, trying to build her confidence.She sucked in an audible breath and opened her mouth. "Dessert tonight?" . . . _coward. Big fat coward._ Somehow, she had to figure out how to get past this. "My treat?" Chuck's melodic laugh echoed in her ears.

"_What kind of dessert are we talking about here? Because I would have thought that you'd want to actually sleep for longer than an hour at some point. I'm surprised you're not dead on your feet yet."_

She could practically see him doing the eyebrow dance and decided to give him a taste of his own medicine. "I'll never be too tired for you."

"_Sa-rah. I'm at the NerdHerder Desk. In public."_

"Well then don't start something you're not willing to finish, Bartowski."

"_Oh, fine. We will finish this, though."_

"Good. I look forward to it."

"_Okay, well, I have a customer. Call me if you need anything." _

"I will." Sarah hung up her phone. Chuck's picture stared back at her on the screen. "I love you," she said to it. "See? Was that so hard?" She held the phone up higher. "I love you." His sheepish and cheesy grin was her only response and she sighed, suddenly feeling very foolish for talking to herself. She blew her bangs out of her face and sent off a message to Bryce, telling him to meet her at the bar in the hotel. She may have decided to have dinner with him but she certainly would not be alone with him.

..-. .- - .. .-.. -.- - .- - - . .-. … … - - .-.

Chuck sat twiddling his thumbs at the NerdHerder desk. It'd been almost two hours since Sarah had called him about having dinner with Bryce. He had one hour left of his shift and it felt like time had stopped completely. With the slow trickle of customers that have come since, he was having a pretty hard time not picturing the worst. He trusted Sarah but he didn't trust Bryce all that much.

Chuck put his elbows on the table, leaning his cheeks on his hands. When did this job get so boring? Well, it was always been boring, but since when had he started to notice? When had he started to care? He'd only worked here because it was something to do while he figured out what to do with his life. Staying this long was never intended but after Stanford, he'd accepted that this would be the way the rest of his life would be. Aside from his childhood, the five years before the Government showed up had been the most consistent his life had been.

His phone began to vibrate against the counter. In his boredom, he watched it dance, happy to have something as a distraction. He let out a sigh and finally moved to pick it up without checking the ID. "Hello?"

"_Chuck."_

In an instant, Chuck sat ramrod straight. It was Sarah but it wasn't Sarah. She sounded like she was on the verge of tears. The hairs on the back of his neck stood, a jolt of fear running through his system.

"_I need you."_

The quiver in her voice was enough to make his heart drop clear to his stomach. He swallowed and fought every instinct yelling at him to question her. "Where are you?" There was silence and then a strangled breath, like she was gaining her composure to speak.

"_The hospital."_

"I'm on my way." He hung up, not waiting for an answer. He wasn't sure she could give one at the moment. Chuck shoved his phone in his pocket and rounded the counter in search of Morgan.

"Taking a personal call while on the clock? And on the sales floor, no less?" Emmett sounded positively giddy. He'd been looking for a way to get Chuck and this might just be it. "How the mighty have fallen."

If Emmett saw the franticness in Chuck's eyes, he neglected to mention it. And, right now, Chuck didn't care to play games with him. He had to leave. "Where's Morgan?"

Emmett stood taller as if sizing himself up to Chuck and tugged at the bottom of his vest. "I don't know where you pesky little friend is."

Chuck sighed agitatedly. He did _not_ have time for this. It appears he would have to deal with one, Emmett Milbarge. "Look, an emergency has come up and I need to leave."

"You're scheduled to close."

"Yeah, I really don't think that's gonna happen. I have to go." He put as much urgency in his tone as possible, hoping to spawn Emmett empathic side. Disappointingly, it didn't work.

"I really don't think that's going to happen," he responded snootily.

Chuck's fists shook at his side. This wasn't the first time he'd thought about decking the skinny man. It probably wouldn't be the last. _Oh, this is insane!- _

"Chuck, buddy," came Morgan's concerned voice, "what happened?"

Chuck whipped around to his friend. In times like these, he was grateful to have someone like Morgan in his life. Creepy as it may be, the man knew him well. With two long, quick strides, he stood in front him. "Morgan, I have to go."

"You better not!"

"Shut up, Emmett," Chuck said, not even passing a glance at him. He put his hand on Morgan's shoulder, hunching down to look him in the eye. "I need your bike. I'll explain everything later, but, please-"

"Yeah, sure, dude. No problem."

He flashed a quick smile. "Thanks, buddy." Chuck headed straight for the exit. Sarah needed him and he'd be damned if he let anything like Emmett stop him from going to her. Before Chuck could breeze past him, Emmett tried for one last ditch attempt at seniority.

"Walk out that door, Bartowski, and don't bother coming back."

"Well, then you know what?" Chuck yanked out his pocket protector and slammed it on the Nerdherd counter causing everyone to fall silent. There were things more important than the Buy More. He didn't need this place like he used to anymore.

"I quit."

..-. .- - .. .-.. -.- - .- - - . .-. … … - - .-.

A/N2: Thanks for reading. If you so choose, I'd love to hear what you think =)


	36. Chapter 36

A/N: Okay, so this chapter has been scraped and rescraped just to be scraped all over again. I tried to write the Hotel scene with Bryce and Sarah but I could never get it the way I wanted so I scraped it and went a different way only to be told by BillAtWork and Shadowda to write that scene. So I tried again, became fairly attached to it only to have Bill suggest yet another route to go, which is the way I ended up going.

But if enough people would like it, I'll post the alternate beginning since I was too attached to delete it from my computer yet, lol. Let me know of you'd like it.

Disclaimer: Still own nothing

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Chapter Thirty-Six

{Sarah's car}

Sarah's foot was like lead against the accelerator. She swerved around cars with expert precision, only once coming close to hitting another driver. But he was the one trying to cut her off and being an asshole. If he just minded his own business and didn't try to cutoff the obviously speeding car, she wouldn't have had to honk. Sarah refused to let anyone slow her down.

"Whoa, slow down," Bryce said behind a packet of ice covering his nose, his body jostled around by her quick swerve into the other lane. "Jesus, you're gonna kill somebody."

Sarah sent a fierce glance of disgust at Bryce, a small thrill of happiness rushing through her at seeing his obviously broken nose. At least he had been successful thus far at keeping his blood off her car. That would have set her off on a statewide killing spree and she was already angry enough as it was. So angry, in fact, it was making driving a bit more difficult than usual. Normally she would have allowed herself time to cool off after what happened but Dr. Williams had called and told her Eve had gone down hill fast. All she could think about, aside from being furious at Bryce, was getting to the hospital before anything untoward happened.

The thing was, though, she was also furious at herself. Why did she think it would be okay to go up to Bryce's room after specifically telling him to meet her at the bar? That had been a boneheaded move and now she'd have to explain this whole mess to Chuck while trying to keep a hold on everything about Evie. The second she saw that damn bottle of wine and the red rose, she should have walked out. Why would he ever think that using the Montgomery- an old, worn out CIA trick- would work on her? How had their signals gotten so crossed that he'd think she'd even be in the slightest bit interested in being with him? Which, that question began a whole new kind of stress. If she'd been sending out those signals, however unknowingly, could that be why Chuck's been acting so strange?

It had been a completely surreal, out-of-body experience, watching Bryce stare at her so smug, so arrogant, so possessive. It made her stomach curdle. He drudged on and on about being partners again and how good they were together, how they were meant to save the world together as a team again. He must have known she was with Chuck, right? It was pretty obvious. She'd moved on from the business of saving the world into the business of saving a nerd who was in the business of saving her. They were perfect for each other. Not her and Bryce. The whole thing just proved how greatly she needed to clear the air with Chuck. She should have returned his sentiment over the phone, but, in the end, she decided it had been best that her first time saying it wasn't over a phone call. It deserved more attention than that.

And now Bryce had to go screw that up, too. What should have a been a declaration would now be a clarification. Shouldn't he be Chuck's friend? What was Bryce doing, implying that she'd get bored with Chuck and leave him more crushed than if she just went with Bryce as soon as he got the Intersect? And why couldn't she have shaken off the shock and tell Bryce to get over himself? Tell him that she was with Chuck? But all she could do was stare at him in stunned silence.

And then he tried to kiss her. Broke her straight out of that trance. Perhaps she had gone a little overboard when he'd attempted, but breaking his nose and almost his wrist had felt pretty darn good. Words were never her strong suit anyway. Actions usually got through much better than words and if Bryce didn't know it now, he certainly would by the time she got done with him.

The plan had been to put him in his place right then, and she would have if not for receiving possibly the most unnerving phone call of her life. She'd left Evie little more than an hour ago. How had things deteriorated so quickly? Dr. Williams sounded worried. More worried than he ever had before.

In that moment, her focus had changed from Bryce to Evie. They could finish more civilly later. She had to get to her sister now. She'd only brought Bryce along to the hospital with her because regardless of how good it felt to deck him, it probably wasn't the best response. She hadn't even tried words first. The least she could do was get him to a place where he could get it reset by a professional and his wrist most likely needed a brace, too. So she just shoved ice into his face after throwing the bottle of Chateau Margaux and told him not to get any blood on her car if he wanted to keep anything else from becoming broken.

As if acting in defiance to Bryce's request, she pushed her car further, pressing the gas just a little harder. The traffic just made it impossible to go any faster than she already was. His face paled a bit more, whether from fear or blood loss, she couldn't be sure. Honestly, she'd driven faster than this on some of their missions, and now he was being a baby? What happened to the thrill-seeker?

Sarah shook her head and skidded around the final corner. Just a straight shot to the hospital now . . .

..-. .- - .. .-.. -.- - .- - - . .-. … … - - .-.

{Hospital}

Sarah stepped out into the hall after the meeting with Dr. Williams and all of Eve's family. She leaned against the wall for support, thinking over the past twenty minutes. Things had gone downhill so quickly for Eve from that afternoon and she couldn't help kicking herself for not getting the doctor earlier today when she had the chance.

She'd sat in the room with her arms folded, waiting for Dr. Williams to show. Trisha paced by the window, Beckman and Casey stood silently in the corner. Trisha's movements were distracting and Sarah turned to give her a frustrated glance while trying to reconcile that Trisha wasn't trained not to show anxiousness. When their eyes met, what Sarah saw made her change her mind. They were laced with regret.

With guilt.

Sarah didn't doubt that hers held the same emotion. They'd silently but mutually decided that it was just easier to not look at each other. And when Dr. Williams walked in, the walls began to fold in on themselves, the air was sucked out. She felt like she was listening through water while he explained the situation. Though his face was tight, his words fell out calmly.

_. . . flu like symptoms . . ._

_. . . temperature too high . . ._

_. . . without an immune system . . ._

_. . . die . . . _

The words played over and over until she stood stiffly, saying she was going to find a quiet place to call Chuck before they started with paperwork. Dr. Williams gave her a sad, understanding smile and said she had some time before they could do the surgery. Sarah had had a snack before visiting Eve which made it so they had to wait for a bit before it could be her turn. Other surgeries were being performed at the moment anyway, but he wanted her there so they could get started the minute an operating room opened up.

Sarah sighed and pushed off from the wall, heading for the exit. _One foot in front of the other, Walker._ Fresh air would help. Or so they say. It probably would since that office had felt suffocating. She pulled her phone out as she walked away. Just as she was about to press send, a familiar voice tickled her ear.

"Wow, she really got you good, didn't she?"

Sarah's brow furrowed curiously. _That's Chuck's Dad's voice. Why is he here?_

"Yeah. I think she'll be sticking around for a while so you'd better get used to it."

"Looks to be that way."

He knew about what Bryce was going to do? And he didn't think to say anything? _What the hell? _Anger was easier to grab onto over worry and any lividness towards the man she'd managed to forget rushed back in one foul swoop. Sarah hurriedly followed where the voices led. Bryce sat in the waiting room with Stephen hovering over him, checking out the damaged she'd done.

"You _knew_ about what he was going to do?" Two sets of surprised eyes met the incredulous and enraged stare of Sarah Walker. It had been stated as a question but all parties involved knew it was anything but. It was accusation. Gone was the notion that she would just sit on her heels and let this pass. The idea of keeping her mouth shut now was preposterous. Sarah seethed with rage. "So what was the plan? Bryce was supposed to seduce me so you could tell Chuck 'I told you so'? What the hell kind of a father are you?"

Stephen held up his hand, hoping to stop her so he could explain. "Sa-"

Sarah batted his hand down forcefully. "I am not done talking!" Her fist clenched so tightly together by her side that her knuckles turned white, nails biting into the skin of her palm. It took every ounce of restraint in her not to lay him out flat. She took in a deep breath and thrust her finger at him. "If you were anybody but Chuck's father, I swear to _god_ . . ." She shook her head and tried to calm down but couldn't do it. She panted with rage she never knew she could hold and knew she had to leave before she did something she regretted. "I don't know what your problem is with me and quite frankly, at this point, I don't even care. But this stops now. Bryce I should have expected this from, but _you_-" she poked him hard in the chest, "God, Stephen, he's your son! You don't have to like me but you should want to protect him, like you always claim to be doing."

"I wanted to protect him from you."

"From _m_-" Sarah broke off with a violent shake, letting out a very Casey-esque growl. _He wanted to protect Chuck from _me_?_ What had she done that was so wrong to warrant that? All she'd ever done is protect him. Her whole life was about protecting him. She tried to see beyond her ferocity and come up with a coherent argument that didn't involve knocking his lights out. The only thing holding her back from that was that she knew Chuck wouldn't be happy with her but even that was just barely doing it. That argument with Chuck would almost be worth it. "Finding you has caused more problems than it's solved and I never should have done it!-"

"Hey!"

A stern voice echoed through the room causing all three- plus their spectators- to look.

"This is a hospital, not a boxing ring," the nurse said pointing to Sarah's clenched fist, "Either take it outside or I'll call security."

Sarah scoffed internally. _Sure. A Rent-A-Cop would be so effective right now._ The interruption, however, had been enough to make her see the audience they'd drawn. This time, she scoffed out loud. Fixing an angry glare on both Stephen and Bryce, she lowered her voice to a more reasonable decibel. "Of the three of us," she said, gesturing between them, "I am the only one who's never betrayed Chuck so before you go around accusing me of something you think I _might_ do, look in the mirror." She stomped off from their presence. All she wanted now was to get as far away from the both of them as possible before she did something she'd regret. _This is great. This is just great._

The cool night air hit Sarah's skin though it did little to chill her temper. She walked along the outside of the building, moving as far away from the entrance as possible. On top of everything else, dealing with Bryce and Stephen was not something she could manage right now. Eve may only be alive for a few more hours if they couldn't get her temperature under control. They'd moved her to an isolation room so none of them could be with her except to stand outside the glass walls like they were observing fish in an aquarium. It didn't help that for the first time in her life, she would knowingly be going into a surgery, knowing all the risks and all the possibilities, and she couldn't help the small part of her that was slightly terrified of that. It would never be enough to make her change her mind. But still. Routine surgery or not, things could go wrong.

She could feel the lump rising in her throat, forcing her to brace herself against the wall before her knees crumbled beneath her. Her gaze fell to the phone still clutched in her hand. Chuck's name was highlighted, begging to be called. All she had to do was press send. Tears began to blur her vision. She tapped the button, clenching her eyes shut and covering them with one hand while bring the phone to her ear with the other. She swallowed many times, trying to push down the lump blocking her passageway but it was no use. It just kept getting bigger and bigger until-

"_Hello?"_

"Chuck," she said, her voice shaky, jaw quivering. She swallowed again. "I need you." There had been many things she expected him to say to that. Many questions she thought would lead into the inevitable _I'm coming for you_ type statement. Was it odd that she never doubted that for a second? But, he'd surprised her, jumping straight to the foregone conclusion.

"_Where are you?"_

She sniffled, taking a haggard breath, swallowing another few times before being able to answer. "The hospital."

"_I'm on my way."_

And then the line went dead. Sarah had been glad that he didn't try to talk more. She hated how small her voice sounded. Six words. All she had said were six words. It was doubtful she'd have been able to say any more than that. She slid down the side of the hospital until her butt hit the concrete. Shaky hands put the phone back in her jacket pocket. She drew up her legs and hugged them to her, waiting to see the one person that had any hope of making her feel remotely better, the one person who could offer her any sort of comfort.

..-. .- - .. .-.. -.- - .- - - . .-. … … - - .-.

{Present time}

Chuck pumped as fast as his legs could carry him, his thighs burning with exertion. He barely acknowledged the pain spreading over his body or the heart slamming against his ribs. Never before had he experienced such blind focus. _Gotta get to Sarah,_ he repeated over and over. Every movement, made from memory. It seemed luck was on his side and he silently thanked a higher power that he'd managed to hit every green light. There had been a few close calls but he'd been going fast enough that it didn't matter.

He just had to get to Sarah.

..-. .- - .. .-.. -.- - .- - - . .-. … … - - .-.

Ellie and Devon were driving back to the hospital after dinner. Devon had forgotten his phone in his locker after he'd left that afternoon so they decided to swing by on the way home to get it. They sat in silence, their fingers entwined over the consol, enjoying each others company. Devon kept his focus on the road while Ellie took in the scenery.

Surprisingly enough, the traffic was light. It seemed the city had been put in a bubble of calm. It happened so infrequently that it was hard not to take a moment to enjoy. As they rounded the corner, the whole mood shifted, popping the bubble. Ellie sat up straight, searching for the source of the disturbance. Up in the distance, halfway between their light and the next, the only thing out of place was the bike rider zooming across the road, teetering back and forth as if his life depended on it. It was hard to see him with the sun casting its last shadows over the streets, but he was there.

_Poor guy must be in a hurry,_ she thought as they closed in on the man. His jacket billowed behind him, showing the white shirt beneath. Just as they were about to pass him, she saw the gray tie flapping over his shoulder and then came his profile.

"Oh my god, Devon, that's Chuck," Ellie said, pulling her hand away to look behind them. "Pull over."

Devon put on the emergency flashers and did as she asked while Ellie rolled down the window. "Honk once," she told him, leaning out the window. "Chuck!" She waved to get his attention. "Chuck, over here!"

Seeing his sister, Chuck slammed on the brakes, stopping with a skid. He looked at her with his chest huffing and puffing. "I-" he swallowed, taking gulping breaths, "Sarah-" he tried to explain but he couldn't get the words, he was so out of breath. He settled for pointing in the direction he needed to go. "Hospital." It'd been enough for both Ellie and Devon to get out of the car. He winced and doubled over, finally feeling the full affect of his efforts.

"Get off the bike," Ellie directed, her calm, controlled doctor voice guiding him. Chuck managed a nod and Morgan's bike dropped to the wayside. Ellie helped support him, rubbing her hand over his back. "Put your head between your knees. Don't sit down. Deep breaths."

Devon grabbed Morgan's bike and put it in the back of the car. He grabbed a bottle of water and the banana that he hadn't eaten at lunch today. It was clear Chuck would need it after the noticeable physical exertion he'd put himself through. His shirt was clinging to his sweaty skin. It's a good thing they came across him otherwise he might've pushed himself too hard. As it was, he looked like he might puke. Devon peeled the banana to have ready for Chuck but he pushed it away and shook his head. "Come on, bro, it's gonna help you feel better."

He shook his head again. "Sar-"

He tried to go for the car but Ellie held him back, sneakily grabbing his wrist to check his heart rate. "You've gotta get you ok before you can help her. We'll still get there before you would've even if you take a few minutes to catch your breath."

God, couldn't they see he didn't matter right now?

"No, Chuck," Ellie said to his annoyed look, knowing exactly the argument he'd pick if he could.

Chuck sighed through his heaving and stood to almost full height, walking in circles while begging his heart rate to slow down and his breath to return. Even in this state, he knew it would be futile to try to convince _two_ doctors he was fine enough to move along. All he had to do was calm his racing heart and he'd be on his way again unless he could think of another way. In his walk, he realized the bike was gone. Finding its outline in the back of Ellie's car, he thought, _Well, that's not an option._

Finally, when he could gather words to where it only sounded as if he were winded after a long run, he said, "Kay, that's it." He took a deep breath and looked at them. "I'm not waiting anymore. Either take me there . . . or I'm running. You're choice."

_Well, at least he's forming sentences,_ Ellie thought. "Alright, fine. Get in the car." She'd be damned if she made him push himself any harder.

..-. .- - .. .-.. -.- - .- - - . .-. … … - - .-.

Sarah sat on the cold, hard concrete. The gray skirt she'd chosen to wear- the first in a string of bad choices that day- did nothing to cushion against the elements. She'd been sitting there for at least twenty minutes, though she didn't really know for sure. She could feel numbness creeping up her backside. Chuck should be getting here soon. She probably should have already gone back inside to fill out the paperwork but she couldn't bring herself to move. It's like she didn't have strength enough for it and that was something she'd never experienced in her life. One thing just piled on top of another today. First Bryce, then Eve, then Bryce again, then surgery, then Bryce _and_ Stephen- the build up was too much, the load too heavy. She simply could not pick up any more, nor carry what she had any further. The desire to have someone's- Chuck's- help overwhelmed her. The realization had been both horridly depressing yet utterly wonderful.

Sarah buried her face in her knees and groaned. _Ugh, this is awful! I'm not supposed to be like this,_ she thought. Or, more specifically, the independent, rational part of her thought.

The other part of her thought it wonderful because at least it was someone she could count on. She thought, growing up, that she needed her father but when he went to jail the first time, it only proved to her she didn't need him for everything. Bryce wasn't needed when they were partners aside from the duties of a partnership. If he died, and she'd thought he had, she could move on, which she did. Sure, it was a little rough at first but she'd been more angry than sad at the time and still successfully completed missions without him. She didn't _need_ him to be good at her job. Her life hadn't been destroyed by the loss of his presence.

But Chuck . . . the thought of never seeing him again crushed her soul, left her with a deep, anguished ache in the center of her chest that she couldn't imagine how much worse it'd be if he actually left. She missed him when he wasn't standing right beside her for longer than ten minutes. She could cope, but that's all it was- coping. If he were to die, well that would be it. The lights would go out and she'd be left fumbling in the darkness, completely blind.

Yep, Sarah Walker needed Chuck Bartowski.

..-. .- - .. .-.. -.- - .- - - . .-. … … - - .-.

Chuck hardly waited for Devon to stop before rushing out of the car. As they were pulling into the parking lot, he dialed Sarah's number, realizing on the drive over that he had no idea where she was at the hospital. He didn't know if something happened to her or if something happened to Eve so where to start was beyond him. He'd find her if he had to, but he could try to make it easier first. Running though the entire hospital would take too long and might not be the best idea even if it'd be totally worth the consequences.

He held his phone to his ear as he headed for the doors, suddenly hearing the ring tone coming to the left. Taking his cue, he followed the sound, just to make sure before going inside. He could always just apologize if it wasn't her. There, leaning against the outer wall, away from public view, he found Sarah with her face buried in her knees, sitting up as if just noticing the phone going off for the first time. With the moonlight now shinning, he could see her jaw quivering as she reached for her phone. He hung up, ending the sound and causing Sarah's face to drop. He'd never seen her look so shattered.

"Sarah," he whispered hoarsely, still a little out of breath.

Sarah turned at her name so see Chuck watching her. Upon seeing him, the pools of water that had built up in her eyes overflowed, glistening off her cheek in the twilight. The tears she'd managed to hold in dripped over her eyelids in rapid succession, spurring Chuck to action. Within seconds, he hit his knees in front of her before she could move, wrapping his arms securely around her. Sarah grabbed fistfuls of his shirt and jacket, pinching the skin beneath as if clinging onto her last lifeline.

Chuck whispered soothingly into her hair- it's gonna be okay, you're gonna be okay, I'm right here- his breath warm against her scalp. He didn't ask questions, he didn't press her to talk. He whispered any comforting words he could think of over and over, dropping a kiss every now and then while letting her cry into his shoulder, not complaining in the least over the tears soaking through his shirt.

"It's bad, Chuck," she sobbed, "It's so bad."

"Shh, shh, shh," he quieted her. "You don't have to explain right now." He ran his hands up and down her back, rocking back and forth in a way he hoped she would find comforting. His only response was Sarah burrowing deeper into him, like she was trying to hide inside of him. It made his heart break and he squeezed tighter.

..-. .- - .. .-.. -.- - .- - - . .-. … … - - .-.

Somehow, after kneeling there for who knows how long, they'd shifted around so that Chuck had his back against the wall and Sarah was curled into him. Sarah had fallen silent, only sniffling every so often but Chuck knew she was still crying. He could feel it. He desperately wanted to know what happened but couldn't bring himself to ask. She called him for support, not questions. But something told him they'd be here for a long while yet and he'd find out soon enough.

At least he didn't have to worry about his job. Quitting had its perks. Now there was nothing to interrupt him from taking care of Sarah. Granted, he was a little worried what she'd say when she found out he'd quit. That may not go over too well. But enough thinking of the unimportant right now.

Crickets chirped in the distance, a light breeze caressing their skin. Through the smog you could find a few stars but not many. Had it not been for their location, tonight might've been pleasant.

"Your heart was beating really fast." Sarah quietly murmured the words into his chest, still sounding so unlike herself.

"Huh?"

"When you first got here," Sarah adjusted her head on his chest to look up at him, "your heart was beating really fast," she said bringing her hand to rest over it.

"Oh, yeah," Chuck said, flashing a brief smile, surprised she'd noticed. He'd almost forgotten how he'd gotten here. Needing to resituate himself, his reminder came as he brought he leg up to rest arm on, wincing as he forced his fatigued muscles into motion. "I sort of rode Morgan's bike."

"All the way?" she asked in shock, concerned by the scrunching of his face.

Chuck shrugged and got another reminder. "Most of it- half-way, at least. Ellie and Devon found me and gave me a ride the rest of the way." He gave her a sheepish look. "I got here as fast as I could."

"Why didn't you just take a NerdHerder?"

Chuck sighed and bobbed his head around while searching for words. "Emmett was being . . . an ass." He nodded. "Yep, he was being an ass."

"What's new?"

Despite the situation, Chuck couldn't help the short, breathy laugh that escaped him. He didn't really want to get into that at the moment for fear that quitting his job was a big no-no in the eyes of the CIA so he leaned down and pressed his lips to hers, hugging her closer with the arm still around her. As he pulled back, he gave her a tight smile, gently brushing her hair behind her ear. "Are you okay?" Sarah averted her eyes that began to fill again as she bit down on her lip. Chuck bent his cheek down to rest on the crown of her head, going back to soothing whispers, "Okay. Alright, I'm sorry. Stupid question. You don't have to answer."

"It's just-" Sarah tsked her tongue frustratedly, her shoulders jerking. How she still had tears left was a mystery to her and they were making talking damn near impossible. "I was here, you know? She was fine. More tired than usual but otherwise . . ." Sarah shook her head. She knew she probably wasn't making any sense. "I shouldn't have listened to her. I _knew_ I should've gotten the doctor. And now, look. It's all messed up."

Chuck had a hard time following but obviously this was about Eve. Why she was blaming herself, he didn't really know, and adding to her frustration wasn't something he wanted to do either, so he kept his mouth shut, waiting to see what else she had to say.

Sarah's phone rang and she rolled further into Chuck. She didn't want this to be real. This couldn't be real. She wanted to be at home, or anywhere- anywhere but here- with her boyfriend and just let him hold her for a while. _Just please take away this god-awful night,_ she prayed against the rising lump in her throat though she knew it was futile. Reluctantly, she took a breath to gather up the strength needed to pull out her phone. It was Casey. The lump grew and she looked at Chuck, his brown eye shining with concern.

"Do you want me to take it?" he asked, holding out his hand.

The briefest flickering of relief shone in her eyes as she wordlessly handed him the phone before shutting her eyes tightly and reclaiming her place against his chest. What's wrong with her? She felt abhorrently ridiculous, crying like a five year old that just lost their favorite blanket. She just couldn't make herself stop. It was a stupid phone call. It might not even be bad news. And even if it was, she should still be able to talk to Casey.

Chuck held her to him softly, glancing at the screen while pressing a kiss to her head. "Yeah, Casey?"

"_We need Walker back in here to sign the paperwork."_

If Casey had been surprised that it was Chuck who answered the phone, he didn't show it. And Chuck, as usual with Casey, felt out of the loop. "Paperwork?"

"_For the surgery,"_ he said, sounding impatient. _"A room should be clear within the hour."_

"Right, surgery. Okay- yeah," he said, flustered by the news. "Uh . . . we'll be right in." He hung up the phone, slipping it back into her pocket. Silence remained for a moment while he processed what to say next. He didn't blame Sarah for not having gotten to that point yet. She was clearly upset. It had just been a surprise. "So . . . surgery."

Sarah nodded and repeated, "Surgery." _It's not a big deal, Walker. Stop freaking out. This should be the least of your worries right now._ Alright, it was time for this emotional basketcase version of her to leave. Even if Chuck hadn't been put out by her actions, she needed to get back up on her own two feet. She sucked in a deep, resolved breath and pushed off of Chuck to sit on her own. She ran her fingers over her face and through her hair, leaving them to rest behind her neck for a moment. Bracing one hand against the ground and one hand against the wall, she was about to rise as demurely as possible in a skirt when an open palm dropped in front of her face. She looked up to see Chuck smiling softly at her, the moonlight casting a blue hued glow around him. He was like a hero saving a maiden, ready to pull her to safety from the river of emotional turmoil. She'd been drowning in it, alone, for years, and finally- _finally_- there was someone to help her swim, to get her to shore. Somehow, because of this man, she knew that, no matter what happened, she'd be okay.

The corners of her mouth quirked upwards in what could almost be called a smile as she slipped her hand into his. Chuck brought up his other hand to take her second from the wall. With both hands securely in his, he pulled her to her feet, unsure of what happened in that moment before she let him help her, but knowing something changed. She'd looked at him differently than she'd ever had before. He took a small step back to give her space while she recollected herself.

Once on her feet, Sarah brushed the dirt off herself and adjusted her clothes back straight. She took another breath, slapping her hands clean, standing tall to see Chuck had watched her every move. She closed the distance between them, wrapping him tightly in a hug, pulling back just enough to give him a hard kiss and then go back to hugging him.

"Thank you, Chuck."

Chuck relaxed at her words, not realizing he'd been wound up. It seemed like her thanks had been for more than just this moment. Though he didn't know what she had to thank him for beyond now, he'd take it. He kissed her cheek before whispering in to her ear. "You're welcome. Anything for you." When Chuck pulled back, she seemed reluctant to let go but they had to get inside. "We should probably stop by the bathroom on the way in."

With the teensiest amount of humor she could muster, Sarah narrowed her eyes at him. "What are you saying, Bartowski? Puffy eyes aren't a fetching look these days?"

Chuck smiled and brushed the remnant of a tear track from her cheek. "Any look on you is 'fetching.' I just thought you wouldn't want all that mascara under your eyes."

"Oh," she said. "Way to think ahead." She gave him a lifeless smile.

He shrugged. "I have my moments," he said, holding out his hand for her to take.

Instead, Sarah wrapped an arm around his waist and rested her head on his shoulder, allowing him to guide her inside. She had been reluctant to let go before but this was a nice compromise. They still got to where they needed to go and she still had the comfort of his arms.

It was a win. A small one, but a win nonetheless.

..-. .- - .. .-.. -.- - .- - - . .-. … … - - .-.

After she'd finished up with the paperwork, Sarah sat in the pre-op room long enough to get an IV going and changed into a hospital gown before Casey came to tell her that Eve wanted to see her before the surgery. And in order to see Eve in her isolation room, Sarah had to be completely covered from head to toe in sterile clothing. She finished donning the gown, hat, and gloves, slipping her sock-clad feet into show covers that had been provided for her.

When Dr. Williams told her she wouldn't have much time with Evie, his worry had been evident, forcing the reality that this could very well be the last conversation she'd have with her sister. She let out a slow breath. She didn't really want this to be a sad talk but no matter what she did, that nauseous feeling in the pit of her stomach just wouldn't leave her. She looked behind her. Beckman, Trisha, and Casey stood with folded arms as they listened to Dr. Williams explained what would happen from here, answering any last minute questions they might have. Ellie, who had asked Dr. Williams if she could scrub in, assisted the two nurse's making their final preparations.

Luckily, her operating room wasn't too far from Eve's isolation room so they'd have the bags of her bone marrow over to her sister in no time. While it was surgery for Sarah, it was little more that what looked like a blood transfusion for Eve. They'd hook up the bags to a large, weird machine with a series of tubing that had intricate twists and turns. The dials alone were enough to be intimidating.

Her eyes slid over to Chuck who was leaning against the counter out of the way, staring at her. Color shaded her cheeks at his intense stare. He pushed off from the counter with his butt and stepped over to her, his arms falling to swing at his sides.

"Anyone ever tell you that blue is a fetching color on you?"

Sarah gave him a small laugh and blinked rapidly to keep the tears in. She gestured up at her face and rolled her eyes. "Sorry. They just won't stop."

Chuck lifted his hand up and brushed away the lone tear that fell. She wouldn't have been able to do it anyway because she already had her gloves on. "Hey, its okay. You don't have to be embarrassed." He tenderly moved her bangs behind her ear, careful not to touch anything else. Her glassy eyes studied his face but she stubbornly refused to cry anymore. He wanted so badly to reach out, to hold her- anything to make her feel better- but he had to settle for standing next to her. For now, anyway.

Without a word, Chuck gave held up a finger and leaned around her, grabbing the mask that sat behind Sarah on the counter. Careful to only touch the straps that would secure the mask to Sarah's face, he hooked each strap behind her ears, leaving the mask bunched under her chin and then cupped his hands behind her neck, squatting to be in her line of sight. "You ready?"

Sarah swallowed nervously but nodded her head as best she could.

"It's gonna be okay, Sarah," he said. "Think positively, okay?"

She nodded again. Seeing the confidence he had in her helped astronomically. Sarah tilted her head and leaned forward, giving him a quick kiss before anyone else could see. She wasn't sure if there was some unspoken rule about that but she couldn't help herself at the moment. Any strength he had to offer, she'd need, craved it like water in the desert. They stepped back from each other. Sarah brought up the mask to cover her mouth and nose. One more exhale in preparation, she stood to full height, gave Chuck a nod and then left into Eve's room.

It was like a frozen tundra in this room, cold and gray. The stillness inside the room, only broken by the beeps of heart monitor, the walls silenced every sound outside them. This room would be where Eve spent the next long weeks after the transplant. And this would be the one chance Sarah had to step inside this room. Eve had to be kept away from people to stay away from possible infections. She had been limited to only three guests allowed inside. Sarah hadn't wanted to keep Eve's family from being able to see her so she told Eve to let it be Beckman, Casey, and Trisha and that she'd still come everyday at the same time as always, sit outside the room and talk over the phone with her. Eve was lucky to have Ethan stay on as her nurse so he'd still be able to go in and see her. It'd been a good loophole to the rule.

Sarah took slow steps up to the bed. Eve had a light sheen of sweat over her face and neck. She was much more ashen and pale than that afternoon. From the angle of her head, you could see how sunken her cheeks were. As if sensing a presence, Eve eyes opened.

"You came."

God, she sounded awful. It took a huge effort to say two words. Sarah reached out her gloved hand and took Eve's. Through the rubber glove, she could still feel the clammy moisture. "Of course," she said. "How are you?"

Even though her jaw chattered wildly, she replied, "Hot."

"Still have your humor." Sarah smiled behind her mask. "Does nothing get you down?"

"I meant-" she hiccupped "-boiling." She gave Sarah a teasing glance. "But that's fu-funny."

Sarah saw pan of water with a rag in it. Not caring if she was supposed to or not, Sarah used her free hand to grab the rag and squeeze out the excessive water. As she dabbed Evie's face she asked, "Is that better?"

Eve nodded. "Much." She moved greedily towards the rag when Sarah took it away to rewet it. "So, you have surgery soon."

Sarah dabbed the freshly wetted rag across Eve's brow. "Yeah."

"Are- you scared?"

Sarah met Eve's eyes figuring a little white lie wouldn't hurt. "No." Which, in a way was true. She was more scared of what Eve faced than what she had to.

"You're not?" Eve said, disbelieving. She remembered that tone from when they were kids. The same night Sarah left.

Sarah knew she'd been caught and shook her head, averting her eyes back to her task. "Maybe a little." She dabbed down Eve's neck to her chest. "But it's okay. I'll be in good hands," she repeated the words she'd been told time and again, hoping they sounded reassuring.

"You don't ha-hafta do it."

"Yes, I do," she demanded, leaving no room for questioning. "Just like you have to fight."

"I'll do my best."

"Good," she let out a breath of relief, "That's good. Because we have a lot of catching up to do, you know. It's hard to do that without a second person."

She smiled tiredly. "Very true." Eve took her free hand and placed it over the one of Sarah's on her chest, stopping its movement. Sarah met Eve's eyes again and felt an intense shift in the atmosphere at the severity lurking in her gaze. "Sarah, I n-need you to promise me something." She swallowed at the lump forming and pushed the words out. "I need you to pr-promise- you'll look after-r my mom if something happens to me."

"Ev-"

"Please?" Eve interrupted in earnest. "Sh-she'll need help."

Sarah licked her lips and blinked back her tears. Of course this would be how the conversation went. Eve was being realistic. And unfortunately that left her worrying about after . . . . But Sarah couldn't agree to this. If she agreed to it, it's like admitting defeat and she just wouldn't give up yet. "You can't give up."

"I'm not, I promise. But somet-times things don't go how we w-want them."

"If I say yes, you'll still try just as hard as if I said no?"

"I- I don't want to d-die, Sarah."

As Sarah nodded, a sob escaped. "Okay. I'll do it. I promise." There was a knock against the windowpane and she glanced over her shoulder to see Dr. Williams give her a nod. "I have to go, now," she said, moving from the bed to her feet. Eve's eyes slipped closed for a moment, remoistening them from the cold.

"F-f-for the record . . . I- love you."

"I love you, too, Evie," she said, and then walked away quickly, rubbing at her eyes as she left. _It's not the last time, it's not the last time, it's not the last time, _she repeated over and over, trying to convince herself it was true. The door shut behind her and Sarah had to pause to lean against it, taking a deep breath in.

Chuck took off the hat and mask, pulling the gown from her arms. Sarah looked shell-shocked. "Are you okay, baby?"

Sarah looked at Chuck with eyes finally free of tears. At least, for the time being anyway. "Let's just get this over with."

Chuck took her hand and walked her toward the hospital bed. If there had been any room left for more feelings, she might have been embarrassed at the crowd that had shared in what could actually be her final moments with her baby sister. Not a dry eye remained as she reclaimed her place on the gurney. Even Casey looked a little misty.

Chuck settled the blanket over her legs with one hand and Sarah squeezed the other in thanks. He gave her a smile. Not caring that the others were there, she tugged him to her for a hug. She closed her eyes and breathed in his scent. "I have so much that I want to tell you."

Her breath caressed his ear and sent a chill down his spine. "It's gonna be fine. I promise," he whispered back. "I'll be here when you're done." He kissed her cheek and moved out of the way for the medical team to take her through to the surgery room where Chuck couldn't follow.

Now, it was a waiting game.

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Okay, there it is. Don't forget to let me know if you'd like the alternate beginning . . .


	37. Chapter 37

A/N: I'm sure this is old, but I really am sorry this is so late. Between work and my mom, things got crazy but she is okay now.

Thank you so much to all those that have read, reviewed, favorited, etc. You're all rock stars and I appreciate every single one of you =)

Thanks to Bill, for his beta-eyes. He told me the original version wasn't sappy enough so hopefully that has been fixed to everyone's liking and that none of it is too over-the-top

_Re-cap just in case: Bryce and Steven are asses, Sarah broke Bryce's nose and had surgery. Ta-zah … hope that helps. _

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Chapter Thirty-Seven

With every exhale, Sarah became more cognizant of her surroundings- the steady beep of a heart monitor; the soft breath traveling up her arm, tickling the hairs there; the pressure next to her hip; the pain igniting a fire across her back. That was the worst and probably the source of her restlessness. As her eyes opened in rapid blinks, her brow furrowed, piecing together the clues to where she was. To the left, the morning sunlight streamed through the window, illuminating the room's decor. It was beige. Beige was boring. Hospitals could really use some interior decorating tips.

Finding nothing of interest on that side of the room, Sarah's eyes slid to the right. Empty recliner. A television. Closed door. Funny animal shapes. Bland pict-

_Funny animal shapes?_

Sarah did a double-take, letting out a relaxed sigh at the sight. Chuck. A smile instantly spread across her lips. He also happened to be the pressure resting against hip as he was using the bed as pillow. She slipped her hand from beneath his and ran her fingers through his unruly curls, so soft and satiny. They were a bit matted from sleep, but still the best thing to wake up to. He must have spent all night in that chair. After riding Morgan's bike all that way, there's no way he could be comfortable.

And that thought forced everything to come together. The unstoppable crying and the surgery and talking to Eve-

_Eve!_

She must have startled at the thought as Chuck came to almost immediately. "-ts goin' on?" he mumbled, trying to catch up to the commotion.

"E-evie-" she began before pausing to swallow her fear which also gave Chuck a moment to shake off the cobwebs. "Evie isn't- . . . she hasn't-" Sarah couldn't get her mouth and brain to work together and form words she so desperately prayed weren't true. "She's-"

Seeing her struggle, Chuck laced his fingers with hers, hoping to provide comfort. "She's sleeping," he said, his voice rough with sleep. "She's okay. Ellie told me her fever hasn't spiked again but her temperature is still a little high." He started to get to his feet. "I'll go-"

Her heart pounded so loudly, Sarah was surprised she'd heard him speak. As he started to pull his hand away, she held on tightly. "How long ago was that?"

"I don't know. Maybe an hour after they brought you to the room."

"And how long ago was that?"

"Just after one."

Sarah's eyes darted around the room. _Clock- a clock. There has to be a clock._

Chuck squeezed Sarah's hand forcing her to find his eyes again. "Sarah, take a breath." He brushed her bangs back and finished getting to his feet. "I'm going to go check on her for you."

_He'd do that?_- "You'd do that?" she asked, her voice touched with bewildered surprise, staring at him in uncertainty. Should she really let him go? Clearly he was just as exhausted as she was and here he was offering to . . . well, move. She tried to find it in her to decline his offer but she just couldn't. She needed to know.

"Of course."

"You're not going to call me crazy and tell me that nothing is wrong? Or force me to go back to sleep?"

Chuck let out a breathy chuckle and leaned over to kiss her forehead. "I'll be right back," he said, choosing not to address her questions. He knew, no matter how much protesting he did, it would just be easier to find out the most recent information for Sarah. It'd save _so_ much time. Besides, she hadn't asked. He'd offered. A little peace of mind would go along way in allowing Sarah to rest, to heal. And just like Eve, Sarah needed that, too.

Sarah's jaw dropped, the only thing registering was utter disbelief. No matter how many times he offered to do these things, it never ceased to amaze her. Her head shook. "God, you're just so . . ."

Halfway between the door and the bed, Chuck turned to look at her as she trailed off. His brow furrowed at her expression of bewilderment. He held his palms out. "So what?" he asked with a shrug.

". . . perfect."

Chuck gave a self-depreciating laugh. "I'm definitely not perfect."

"You are to me," she said softly.

Chuck turned away to hide his blush. With a small shake of his head, he stepped back up to the bed and bracketed Sarah with an arm on each side of her hips. "Well, I'm glad you think so, even if I don't." Their eyes traced over the features within inches of their own. With a short rock forward, Chuck closed the distance between them, gently encasing her bottom lip between his, the barest of touches still enough to warm his soul and set alight his passion. He wondered absently if kissing Sarah would always feel like this. The thought was both exhilarating and terrifying to the point where he found himself holding back. A lingering doubt that no words could heal would always stay with him- that one day, it could all be over in the blink of an eye, like a rug being pulled out from under your feet. It'd happened before when his mom left and his dad, Stanford and Bryce, the government. There just wasn't too much more that his battered heart could take. But when he kissed Sarah, none of that mattered. All was right if only for a moment. It felt amazing.

Sarah's fingers trailed up his stomach. Conscious of the IV in her arm, one hand stayed at his side while the other went straight for his curls, urging him for more. She couldn't explain it, but being with Chuck made even the biggest catastrophe seem easy. He just had this ability to make her forget where she was without even trying. And yet, in some ways, she was still waiting for him to kiss her senseless, like he did in front of Roan. That kiss haunted her dreams. It still does. Ever since becoming a real couple, she really wanted him to do that again. Much too soon for her liking, the kiss ended. Chuck rested his forehead against hers, taking a moment to catch his breath.

"I'll be right back," he promised again, silently closing the door behind him.

Once Chuck had disappeared, Sarah rested back against the bed with a grimace. She hadn't realized how much it hurt to move when she'd sat up to kiss him better. She was tired and hot and uncomfortable and just really wanted to get off her back. Without Chuck there as a distraction, her only company was silence and pain. It's not the worst she'd ever felt, but it was certainly up there. Should she really be hurting this much? Was that normal? Every time her heart beat, it was like a drum playing across her back- a mindless beating that rang all the way up through her ears, aggravating her to no end.

She never questioned Dr. Williams' decision about surgery, but at this moment, she wondered if the PBSC donation would have been the better option. Except the problem with that method was that you had to have five days of injections before being able to donate and Evie simply didn't have that amount time. Doing the surgery had been the most direct route even if it had been the outdated way.

Aside from the pain, though, she felt completely embarrassed to have been as afraid of surgery as she had been. It had been nothing. Exactly like Dr. Williams said. Get in, get out, get on. Hindsight, as they say, is twenty-twenty.

The scratch of a door latch drew Sarah from her thoughts. She turned to the door, hoping for Chuck but instead saw a nurse carrying a fresh bag of blood. As the nurse looked over to the bed, her shoulders jerked in surprise.

"Oh, you're-" she began, startled, ". . . awake." Shaking off her astonishment, she smiled pleasantly. "I'm just changing you to your last bag of blood." Sarah nodded and watched the nurse switch out the empty bag with a fresh one. As the nurse checked the connection to the IV in Sarah's arm, she asked, "How are you feeling?"

In typical fashion, Sarah downplayed the pain. "I'm okay." Her answer sounded weary which wasn't surprising considering she'd recently gotten out of surgery. On the other hand, this was a medical professional and she should have felt comfortable enough to ask about the pain. Had it have been Ellie walking in, she probably would have but she didn't know this person.

"Good." The nurse gave a smile and nod. "So, where's your boyfriend?" she asked as she checked over the monitors, making sure everything was set properly.

"Um, he went to see if there's any news about Eve."

"Aw, that's sweet of him," she said, noting Sarah's blush. She reviewed Sarah's chart and saw that it'd been a while since she'd received pain killers and the previous dose had been small at that. The nurse shook her head. "Okay, huh?" It's no wonder Sarah was awake. She was probably feeling everything. She grabbed a syringe and vial. "Perhaps this will help you feel better than okay. Just a small dose of morphine."

Sarah nodded, grateful for a reprieve even if it meant she immediately felt drugged. She fought against allowing her eyes roll back. It's a good thing she'd done a fairly stellar job at torture resistance training or staying awake may have been a problem. However, in this case, being drugged had its upside. The throbbing had stopped. But there was also the downside. It made her sleepy and as drowsy as she may be, she had to stay awake at least until Chuck came back to tell her about Evie.

"Get some rest," the nurse said, making her way to the door. "You deserve it."

..-. .- - .. .-.. -.- - .- - - . .-. … … - - .-.

After a series of mindless turns, Chuck found Casey slouched in a chair outside Eve's door. His legs were stretched out in front of him, arms folded across his chest. Though his head rested back against wall and his eyes were closed, Chuck doubted that Casey was actually sleeping.

"Why aren't you with Walker?" Casey asked, not even bothering to look at Chuck.

"How did yo- never mind." He shook his head and plopped next to the burly man. Chuck crossed his arms and slouched like Casey but kept his legs tucked back. He sighed, feeling himself falling asleep in his relaxed position. Sleeping in a chair did not make for a good sleep. Casey's hand swung out and hit him in the chest. "_Aa_ow! Casey."

Casey shifted in his seat and looked at Chuck with a raised brow, clearly not going to apologize nor interested in drawing out this little tête-à-tête. Obviously Chuck had come for a reason and Casey wanted to move the discussion along so he could get back to sleeping- or the poor version of it he'd been attempting.

Chuck pouted and rubbed out the sting but had the presence of mind not to discuss it further. He drew out his moping, forcing Casey to wait for an answer as he settled back into his seat. That really hurt. Does the man not know his own strength? "Sarah wanted to know if there was any news on Eve."

"Walker's awake?" he asked in surprise. He looked at his watch. Almost seven. "Hm, would've thought she'd been out at least until later in the morning."

"Well, Sarah's nothing if not stubborn. Honestly, I'm surprised she's awake too but worry's a pretty good motivating factor. She'll probably go back to sleep after she's assured Eve's okay."

Casey grunted, knowing that would mostly like be true. "I don't know what to tell you. Not much has changed since Ellie left. I think Eve's pretty well down for the count. Only time will tell if she can take a few more rounds. But, she's alive. It's better than what she could've been at this time."

"Yeah." Chuck hadn't really expected anything to be different from before but he was so grateful to not have to go back with bad news. While this news wasn't great, it was a start. "She'll make it, Casey. There's too much left not to fight for."

Casey nodded noncommittally, refusing to comment otherwise. There were some fights that you just couldn't win and Eve had been fighting this one for a long time. Casey had never been one to get his hopes up. Chuck had always been the optimistic one on this team and at times- like now- it wasn't so annoying. Eve needed all the optimism she could get. He let his eyes close, intent on going back to resting but not quite sleeping.

"How are you doing, Casey?"

Casey gave Chuck a look that said 'you're kidding, right?'

Chuck raised a hand in surrender, waving off his question. "Sorry." As if Casey would actually want to talk about that. Sleep deprived Chuck was not a good communicator. Granted, he'd have asked the same thing had he not been sleep deprived.

Casey settled back into his spot against the wall, wiggling around until he was comfortable again. "When Eve wakes up, then I'll tell you." That'd be the only thing to rid him of the sinking feeling he had now. If Eve didn't wake up . . . well, he just couldn't think about that now.

Chuck blew out air between his lips, his cheeks bulging like a chipmunk and nodded. They sat together, not quite in an awkward silence, but Chuck wanted to see if Casey'd say anything more. He severely doubted it. Casey's initial reaction would always be to say no but Chuck knew that a little patience could get the big guy to open up. Truth be told, Chuck also needed a minute to prepare to move. His body ached all over the place from riding that damn bike and sleeping in that awful chair. He should really get into better shape. Being this sore was ridiculous. He sucked in a quick breath and pushed to his feet, intent on making his way back to Sarah. "Well, if you need anything, you know where to find me. You'll tell us if anything changes?"

Casey nodded but didn't open his eyes. He could hear Chuck steps getting further down the way when a thought struck him. "Hey, wait," he called out, looking down the hall after Chuck. "Walker . . . how's she doing?" He should have asked earlier considering she'd just had surgery and all.

"Tired and in pain, but otherwise intact."

Casey nodded. "Tell her thanks. I'll be in to see her in a couple hours." He settled back against the wall and closed his eyes. "I just want to sit here for a while."

"Okay," Chuck said sadly, all of a sudden feeling bad for leaving Casey alone. Beckman had left with Ellie and Trisha was in with Eve. It always seemed like Casey was left by himself, which was completely unfair. He could tell Sarah the news and then come back. "Do yo-"

"No."

Chuck shook his head. "Honestly, that's just freaky." Casey laughed as much as he ever laughed. Chuck felt glad if he could brighten Casey's mood in any way. He didn't want to leave Casey alone; however, he wouldn't leave Sarah alone. Casey should have someone that would just sit with him, too, even if they didn't talk- which would most likely be the case. He was Casey, after all. And Chuck knew just the person. "Have you told Grace?"

Casey grunted. The thought had crossed his mind, but no. He wouldn't do that to someone, even if he knew she'd do it. "No. It was late. Besides, I think she's at work now."

Chuck nodded, considering his parting words carefully. Casey definitely wasn't a shout out for help kind of guy, but there had been moments over the past two years where, in his own Casey-way, he asked for it. Chuck simply thought now should be one of those times. "You know, Casey, it's not so bad letting someone help every once in a while."

"Bye, Bartowski."

Chuck gave a small laugh and resumed his trek back to Sarah's room. "Just sayin'," he called over his shoulder. Maybe Casey had convinced himself he preferred to do these things alone.

Hopefully, one day, he wouldn't want to.

It didn't take long for Chuck to get back to Sarah's room. Just in case she had fallen asleep in his absence, he opened the door as quietly as possible, peeking in before entering. Her eyes were shut and he watched her chest rise and fall for a few moments before entering. He held the door knob down, closing the door without a sound. He reclaimed his seat in the chair; his sore muscles had him dropping hard instead of hitting the surface softly. The chair squeaked in protest under his weight, and Sarah's eyes opened in tired slits.

"Hey," she said, rubbing her eyes. "What did you find out?"

"She still sleeping," he said, threading their fingers and brushing his thumb across her knuckles. "We'll know more when she wakes up."

"So basically what you told me before?"

He shrugged. "Well, you never know. Something could've changed. It's been hours," he said. "Casey said thank you, by the way. He'll be by in a couple of hours."

Sarah nodded, a comfortable silence falling between them. With her worries put at ease, she found herself unable to fend off sleep any longer. "Chuck?" she mumbled groggily before she drifted too far from consciousness.

For his part, Chuck had also been dozing in the chair again. Getting home couldn't come soon enough in his book. "Hm?"

"Lay with me?"

In a wordless reply, Chuck released her hand. Being careful not to touch, he crawled over top of her. To keep Sarah on her back, Chuck rested on his side with his arm draped over her abdomen. Though the bed wasn't extremely comfortable, his body had been grateful for the chance to stretch out. In no time, both of them fell asleep.

..-. .- - .. .-.. -.- - .- - - . .-. … … - - .-.

"Eve's awake."

Chuck startled awake at the intrusion, falling off the side of the bed and hitting the ground with a groan. "Aaaow."

"Eve's awake?" Sarah asked, pushing up on her hands, her face tight with pain and effort.

Chuck used the bed to pull himself up, still not sure who the intruder was. Seeing Casey, Chuck released the breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. "Jeez, Casey, was that really necessary?" he asked, getting to his feet. It felt like minutes since his head hit the pillow but a glance at his watch told him it'd been a couple hours.

Casey grunted in reply and addressed to Sarah. "She's asking to see you."

Adrenaline allowed Sarah to throw off the covers and get to her feet. The blood drained from her face with the quick movement as spots swirled over her eyes. "Whoa."

Within seconds, Casey steadied her from the front and Chuck from the back. "Easy there, Walker," Casey said, forcing her to lie back down on the bed. "Dr. Williams is in with her right now, then he'll come to you. No rush."

"You might have mentioned that first," she said, trying to get her eyes to focus on one thing instead of all the dots flying over her eyes.

"Well, Bartowski said to tell you if something changed."

"I said tell us, not scare us."

"Oh, keep your panties on, Bartowski," Casey said, "I didn't even yell. And I knocked. It's not my fault you slept through it."

Chuck opened his mouth to respond but Sarah didn't give him the chance. "How's she doing?"

"She looks good. I don't know much more than that since he's examining her now." He jutted his chin towards Sarah. "How 'bout you? You doing okay?"

"Drugged and tired but I'm okay," she said, keeping as much nonchalance to her tone as possible and choosing not to acknowledge how much pain just the act of sitting up caused her. Perhaps if she ignored it long enough, she could trick herself into thinking it wasn't there.

"Good."

The door opened and Dr. Williams walked in. "Excellent news, people. Eve is doing well. So far it doesn't appear that her body is rejecting the transplant. Her temperature remains elevated, but that is to be expected."

"Okay," Sarah said, letting out a sigh of relief. Eve was awake and okay. Or, at least, it looked very promising. They'd have more time together. Whether it was days, months, or years couldn't be known yet, but any time would be better than no time. The ropes around her heart finally loosened. She tried met Chuck's eye, trying to hold back a smile. He smirked knowingly as she tried to keep it together. He knew she wanted nothing more than to run out of this room and down the hallway to see for herself that Eve was all right. Blushing under his knowing gaze, Sarah switched to watch as Dr. Williams reviewed her chart and recorded her stats. "When can I see her?"

Dr. Williams' eyes twinkled as he looked at her. "Soon." He dropped her chart back into place. "I just need to remove the IV for your blood and get you a fresh bag of fluids and check your incisions. Shouldn't take more than ten minutes."

Knowing checking her dressings would mean skin exposure, Casey excused himself. "Well, I'm heading back to Eve's room, then." He liked Walker. He did. There were just some things he didn't want to see. Sure, he'd seen her in less but this just seemed more intimate and definitely inappropriate.

While Dr. Williams got to work, he addressed Chuck. "Mr. Bartowski," he point to the cupboard, "in that cupboard is a wheelchair. You'll need it to take Agent Walker to see her sister."

"I can walk."

Dr. Williams raised his brow with fatherly admonishment. "There are rules in this establishment," he said, reconnecting a new bag of fluids. "I may let the sleeping in the same bed thing slide but you will not be doing any more movement than necessary. You have to rest." He'd come in to check on her roughly an hour ago and found Chuck sleeping next to Sarah and decided he'd come back later. They were lucky it had been him coming to check on Sarah. He knew for a fact that the nurse on duty had a penchant for policy and never would have allowed Chuck that digression.

"Sorry," they chorused, blushing sheepishly.

Dr. Williams laughed. "I won't tell if you won't tell. Now, let's get you off your back so I can take a look."

Sarah winced as she rolled to her side. Both Chuck and Dr. Williams helped. Her breath quickened, and, against her will, her eyes watered. She blinked rapidly, hoping not to let any tears fall. She'd done enough crying. Chuck held her hand and she squeezed his tightly. Chuck brushed away the lone tear sliding down her cheek, not calling attention to it.

"Okay," Dr. Williams said as he pressed ointment to each incision point and Sarah's whole body clenched as the tender area was prodded at, "it's looking pretty good. If you don't pick at the scabs, I think you'll barely be able to see the scars." He threw away to ointment packet away and washed his hands. "Now, you're going to be sore for a few days so I'll write you up a prescription for an anti-inflammatory and pain killer. We'll need to let that last bag of fluids finish and you'll be good to go." He dried his hand and threw away the paper towel before squirting hand sanitizer on his hands. "It should take a few weeks for you to feel back up to your normal energy levels but everything looks good."

Sarah nodded. "Thanks, Dr. Williams."

"You're welcome." He gave her a smile and then turned to business. "Now, you can't go into Eve's room but there is a phone next to the window so you can talk to her. Please keep it a quick conversation. She needs all the rest she can get, but she was adamant that she wanted to speak with you first."

Sarah smiled. "Well, let's not keep her waiting," she said. She, too, was anxious to see Eve. Chuck adjusted his grip and pulled Sarah up, helping her into the wheelchair. She was more than a little surprised at how easy he'd made it seem.

Watching Chuck kiss Sarah's temple, seeing her cheeks color as she bit on her lip, made Dr. Williams smile. They really were an extraordinary couple. He held opened the door for Chuck to push Sarah through. The trio made their way through the halls of the hospital.

Inside Eve's fish bowl, Beckman, Trisha, and Casey were dressed similarly to how Sarah had been last night with hats and gowns and gloves and masks. Eve stopped whatever she'd been saying when she saw Sarah. She smiled brightly and waived. Eve pointed to the wall where Dr. Williams held out a phone to her.

"I'll leave you to it." He looked at Eve and spoke loud enough for the receiver to pick up his voice. "You let me know if you need anything."

Eve nodded with a thumbs up and waived goodbye to him. Sarah put the phone to her ear. "Eve!"

"Hi! How are you?"

"Me?" Sarah said with a laugh. "What about you?"

"I'll be honest," she said, "I feel much less toxic than I have in a long time. Super tired but not bad."

"Good."

"How are you, Agent Walker?" Beckman asked.

"Relieved," she said, surprising herself with her candidness especially in front of Beckman and Casey. Her image in their eyes, once a hardened agent, must now be irreparably damaged. Strangely enough, she couldn't care less.

"I think that's mutual for everyone," Trisha said.

"When do you get to go home?" Eve asked.

"Probably in a few hours. Dr. Williams wants me to finish this," she pointed to the bag hanging off her chair, "and then I'll be done, I think."

"Okay." Eve nodded. "You'll come see me before you go?"

Sarah smiled. "Consider it done."

"Cool," she said. "I think I'm gonna go back to sleep now."

"Okay."

"Tell Chuck hi for me."

Sarah laughed. "Will do. Sleep well." She turned to Chuck who held out his hand for the phone. "Eve said to tell you hi," she said as he hung up the phone.

"Oh." He smiled and nodded to the room full of people, showing he got the message. They waived goodbye to each other and Chuck turned Sarah's chair back towards her room, the short distance covered in silence. The atmosphere felt a lot more relaxed now that Sarah had the chance to speak with Eve. It was good to know for a fact that Eve was doing better. There was hope.

Chuck helped Sarah get back into bed, practically carrying her to it from the chair. "You look to be feeling better," he said as he pulled the covers up to tuck her in, mindful of her IV.

"I am, actually. Seeing for myself that she was okay helped a lot."

He reattached the heart monitor to her finger. "Good, I'm glad." He sat next to her hip. With a soft smile, he brushed her bangs behind her ear.

They lost themselves in the others eyes, both having so much to say but not knowing how to find the words. Sarah wanted to tell him about dinner and what she had planned on telling him last night before that got all messed up and Chuck had to tell her he didn't have a job anymore. There wouldn't be a better time to bring it up. Eve had been their excuse not to before, but now that they knew she was okay, this was something to be taken care of.

As talking was more his area of expertise, Chuck gathered the courage first. He took her hand off his chest and held it in his own. "Listen, now that things have had a chance to settle down, there's something I should tell you." He couldn't keep this a secret.

Sarah was taken aback. He had something to tell her, too? _Well, that can't be good._

"I, uh, I don't really know how to tell you this but . . ." Chuck massaged the back of his neck with his free hand, "well, I sort of don't work at the Buy More anymore."

Sarah's gaze narrowed questioningly. "What do you mean you don't work at the Buy More?"

"Uh, well, it's just that- Remember how I told you that Emmett was being an ass?" Sarah nodded. "Well, he sort of wouldn't let me leave work last night so I . . . I quit."

"You quit?"

"I did. And I'm sorry but you know, some things are just more important and it's not what I want to do with the rest of my life anyway and I know I should have consulted with you first but you were just so upset and all I cared about was getting here for you and-"

"You quit your job? For me?"

"Pretty sure we've been over that part, Sarah."

"I know, I know. It's just- you quit your _job_ for me."

"Well, it's not like it was that great of a job in the first place. I wasn't saving the world or anything."

_Just saving my world,_ Sarah thought, remembering how her world seemed to be crumbling around her last night until he'd showed up.

Chuck watched her for any signs of anger but her mouth hung open in wonder. "What- ah, what are you thinking? What's going on?"

"I don't know. As your girlfriend, I am beyond happy for you. You were so much better than that place. But as your handler, I'm pretty sure I'm supposed to be angry." Sarah stared at him for a minute with a look he couldn't decipher. _Nope. Not an ounce of upset at him for quitting. _The fact that he was willing to make a life altering decision on the fly like that was amazing. She smiled. "You really are perfect."

Chuck blushed and shook his head.

Sarah cleared her throat, wanting to get this over with now. "Okay, since we're talking about things, I have something to tell you, too."

_Well, that's never good._ Chuck swallowed anxiously. "Uh, okay." He took his hand away from her, leaning against it on the opposite side of her. "What, ah, what's up?"

Sarah wished he hadn't moved. She liked when he touched her and having him move away from her was not a good sign. "Okay, just . . . hear me out, alright?"

He nodded shakily and let out a nervous laugh. _Maybe this won't be so bad,_ he hoped. He smiled warmly and took her hand in his again, encouraging her to continue.

"Chuck, last night at dinner- …" she sighed trying to think of the easiest way to tell him this. _Not really an easy way to do it, Walker. You just- you gotta rip it off like a bandaid._ She swallowed. "Bryce tried the Montgomery on me."

Sarah waited on baited breath for something- anything- to happen, but he just sat there, staring at a spot on the bed like it was the most interesting thing. For a long moment, she thought he might not have heard her. She'd expected him to be angry. Very angry. Like throwing things around the room angry. This total lack of response had not been expected and was supremely disconcerting. He wouldn't even look at her. "Chuck?" she finally asked softly. "Did you hear me?" She reached out to grab his arm but he avoided it, standing up and moving away from her. "Chu-"

"I heard you." He scratched at a spot on his neck with one finger, still not meeting her eye. He pursed his lips in thought. "What do you want me to say? You practically went on a date with the guy. Dinner is one thing, but in his room? What did you think he expected?"

Sarah's mouth opened. To say what she didn't know, but she needed something come out. He was really angry. "I- I don't know," she said, her voice quivering. _Great start._ "It was just dinner-"

"In his _room?_ Really, Sarah, did you not expect him to try? I mean, this is _you_ we're talking about. He wasn't asking you to dinner to laugh about old times. And even though it makes him a terrible friend, I can't even blame him. Bryce would be an idiot not to try, because, god, help me, if the shoe was on the other foot, I know I'd try. Until you shut the door, I'd try." Chuck sighed, rubbing his hand wearily over his face. His hands dropped to his legs with a slap. "You know what? Let's just- let's just talk about this later, okay? You need to rest and I . . ." He shook his head, heading for the door. "-I should go."

"Wait, stop!" she pleaded, afraid of what him walking out meant. "Please don't go, Chuck. Please. I know you're mad but at least let me try to explain. "

From the increased blips on the heart monitor, Chuck could tell she was getting nervous. He sucked in a long slow breath and finally looked at her. Unlike normal, there was no mask shielding her terror. She was up on her knees, ready to pounce if he left. Even on her worst day, Sarah could catch him. As much as he didn't want to have this conversation, he'd rather have it in here than publicly. Chuck took the chair next to the bed, still keeping his distance. "So what happened?"

"Nothing happened," she said, "I hadn't even planned on going to his room. I told him to meet me at the bar but he said that he'd already ordered room service since I'd taken so long to respond, and since I'd already agreed to go, I figured an hour wouldn't be so bad. But then, I got there and he started saying all these things about being partners again and saving the world- I was shocked. I honestly thought that if he would do something like this it wouldn't be until he was heading off on his first mission and nothing more than what he did last time. When he tried to kiss me, I broke his nose and then I got the call about Evie and we left."

"_We _left?"

"Yeah, I thought- I thought that he should have a medical professional look at it and I was going to the hospital anyway so I took him with me."

Chuck scoffed. He wished she'd have left Bryce to fend for himself.

"I was trying to be like you."

The statement, so innocent in context, weighed heavily on him. "Why would you ever, ever want to be like me, Sarah?"

"Because I like who I am when I'm with you. I like to know that there is something good to find in people. I like to know that it's okay to trust and its okay love. Everyday I'm with you, I just want to be more like the person you see rather than the person I am. You're everything I never knew to dream of and more. But mostly I want to be like you because I love you." She paused. "I'm so sorry it took me so long to tell you. I chickened out so many times-" Sarah hid her face in her hands. "Ugh, it was supposed to be better than this," she said, more to herself than to him. "I was scared to tell you because once it's out there, you can't go back. And I've just sucked at being a girlfriend so far."

Chuck furrowed his brow. "What makes you say that?"

"You want a list?" she asked exasperatedly, on the verge of tears. "Let's see, I've been all tense and agitated the whole time-"

"With good reason," Chuck justified. He couldn't imagine what it'd have been like if Sarah wasn't his to comfort while she figured things out with Eve. He couldn't imagine having to watch from a distance as she got to her feet again.

"-I completely broke down yesterday-"

"Also with good reason."

"-I accepted a dinner I shouldn't have even fathomed in the first place, at least not without you there, too."

"Okay," Chuck conceded, "I'll give you that one. But I believe you when you say you didn't think he'd try anything."

Sarah nodded in thanks, keeping quiet for a moment. "You're father hates me," she admitted sadly. She felt completely gutted by that. It shouldn't matter so much what his father thought, but it did. No one wants to have a poor relationship with their significant other's parents.

"He doesn't hate you."

"Yes, he does," she said and then sighed. This part was worse than telling him about Bryce, but it needed to be said. "He knew what Bryce was going to do. Right before I called you last night, I heard them talking-"

Chuck's eyes burned angrily and his nostrils flared. "That son of a . . ." He clenched his fists, huffing out a breath of frustration. "You know what, it doesn't matter. Pretty soon he'll be gone, never to be heard from again."

"Chuck," she whispered, at once saddened and pained, "please don't lose your relationship with you father because of me."

"I didn't lose my relationship with my father because of you," Chuck insisted, heatedly. "I lost it because of him. He left and you found him. You gave him the opportunity for a second chance, Sarah. He's the one that blew it. So, no, I did not lose it because of you."

Sarah scooted down the bed so she could reach out to him. Hope rose when he didn't move away, allowing her to brush her fingers through his hair, caressing the sides of his face. "Please promise me you'll talk to him, Chuck. It's important for you that you don't hold onto this anger towards him for the rest of your life. If you don't want a relationship, I understand that, but please, just . . . please."

Chuck looked away, trying to think of a reason not comply. This was just an example of how amazing Sarah was, though. Here she was thinking that his father hated her and yet she cared enough to beg him to talk to his dad. To want him to work it out. Even if it was more for his sake than anything else. He shook his head, meeting Sarah's eyes again. "And you say you're a terrible girlfriend."

Sarah tried and failed to hold back a relieved smile. He still called her his girlfriend. Well, he implied it, at least. "I have been an awful girlfriend, Chuck. But I'll do better, I promise."

"As long as you're not planning on leaving with Bryce then we're on the up and up." He tried to keep his tone light, but there was enough insecurity in him that no amount of lightness could cover up.

Sarah scratched her fingers through his stubble. "The only person I'll be going anywhere with ever again is sitting right in front of me."

"Really?" His head jerked in surprise. "Ever?"

"Like forever, ever," she said. Though it was far too soon for words like engagements, rings, weddings, planning a future together, she knew that's where they were headed and there'd be plenty of time to discuss those things later. For now, they'd hit one of the first milestones before any of that could happen. No matter how terrifying, it was exactly what she wanted. She gave him a soft smile. "I love you, Chuck."

Chuck gave her a brilliant smile. "I love you, too," he said and pressed his lips to hers with hunger. Sarah returned his fervor, matching him nip for nip, loving that he took control. This side was not often seen, but often wanted for. When he fisted her hair roughly, she moaned. Needing more, she moved awkwardly, shooting a pain through her back and hips. _Bad idea,_ she thought as she pulled back with a hiss of pain.

"Ow, ow, ow!"

"Oh-" Chuck sprung back. "Oh, Sarah, I-" His hands hovered over her, unsure of where to touch or what to do to make her feel better. "I am so sorry. I'm sorry," he said. "I'm so sorry."

Sarah grabbed one of hands, using it to help stabilize her as she lay back down on the bed. "-ts okay, Chuck," she said quietly, stuttering with pain. "Just forgot where I was for a second." She gave him a playful glance. "That has a tendency to happen when I'm around you."

Chuck laughed, turning his hand over to link their fingers. She squeezed tightly while she rode out the pain. He kissed the back of her hand as further apology and brushed her bangs out of her eyes as she took a shakily settling breath. Well, it didn't end the way she'd been hoping, but at least he was happy. She swallowed as she turned her slightly glassy gaze toward him, giving him a small smile to let him know she was doing better.

Chuck wasted no time returning it. "Seriously, though, are you okay? Can I get you something?" he asked, running the backs of his fingers soothingly across her cheek.

"I'm fine, I promise."

"Okay."

They sat in silence, giddy smiles springing to both their faces. She finally said it. He'd known it to be true, but hearing it meant the world to him.

The world seemed right once again.

His hand moved down to her shoulder and he caressed the base of her neck with his thumb. Her skin flushed and her pulse quickened.

"Chuck," she whispered breathlessly. She put her hand over his, stopping his movement. "As appealing as that is, I've gotta tell you, I just couldn't give you my best."

Chuck gave her a bemused look. "That turned you on? Really?"

"Oh, like you don't know that my body is your own personal fiddle. All you have to do is choose your tune."

Chuck laughed. "The only fiddle player here, my dear, is you," he said, purposefully oblivious with a smidgen of mischief. He leaned down and pressed his lips to hers, holding back from going too far but leaving the promise of more to come.

Sarah whimpered and pulled away. "Oh, no. I know what you're doing."

He rolled his eyes. "Oh, fine." With much effort on his overused muscles, he pushed himself to a sitting position. "You're no fun."

Sarah smiled with a mixture of mirth and sadness at his pain. "Oh, Chuck, why don't you go home and relax a little?"

"Trying to get rid of me?"

Her eyes glittered teasingly. "Well, it's either that or maul you, and, sadly, neither one of us is in a position to do that." She picked an invisible piece of lint off his rumpled shirt and smoothed her hand down his chest until it rested over his heart, feeling it beat steady and reassuring under her fingers. "But no. I just thought you might like to take a hot shower or something. To help loosen up your muscles after pushing yourself so hard last night."

"Oh, I'm fine, just stiff."

"Which is why I suggested going home."

"Well, I don't want to leave you here by yourself."

Sarah bit her lip. "That's so sweet of you," she said unabashedly, "but, if you left you could do me a favor." She waggled her eyebrows enticingly.

An unsure smile curled at his lips. "What's that?"

"Well, I'm in need of clothing to go home in and I was hoping you could bring me one of your t-shirts."

Chuck teased her with a shake of his head. "Face it, Sarah, you just like wearing my clothes. I think you wear my t-shirts more than I do."

"It's probably true," she said, reddening at the thought. Even before they were together, she liked to take his shirts. It was good for the cover after all. "But they smell like you and I like that. It's nice."

Now it was Chuck's turn to blush. "Oh, Sarah, what are we going to do with you?" he asked rhetorically and she laughed.

"Any more requests, or do you just want the shirt?"

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So that's all for now. Thanks for reading. I hope you liked it. Drop me a line if you feel like it =)


	38. Chapter 38

Hey guys. Thanks for your patience and for reading, reviewing, favoriting, alerting and for checking in. Your support means the world.

Thanks to Bill for looking over this chapter over and to bdaddydl for his assistance and continued support. You are both stars =)

Disclaimer: Still own nothing

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Chapter Thirty-Eight

Chuck walked through the courtyard with an extra spring to his step. Driving a Porsche was so much fun! He didn't even have to beg for the keys. Sarah just handed them over and told him where she parked like it was no big deal. Truth be told, though, it wasn't the car that made him feel like a child that had been told his dream of going to Disneyland would finally be coming true. No, he hadn't quite been able to knock the smile off his face since Sarah told him she loved him.

_She said she loves me! _He did a weird little hop-skip step of excitement, hardly believing it to be true. _Sarah frakking Walker loves me!_

And now he was thinking about it again. Oh, well. It's not like it hadn't been on his mind since she said it in the first place. Nothing quite like having the woman you love return the sentiment to embolden the testosterone . . . and also promote attention deficit. There were times on his drive home where he'd been fairly certain he'd already passed certain places once or twice before, his mind had been so scattered. It hardly mattered. He was so happy he could barely contain it.

But what to do about it?

He couldn't exactly scream it from the top of a mountain, or hire a plane to write it across the sky, or even put a huge sign up on an overpass. Sarah wouldn't appreciate any of those things, he didn't suppose. Sure, she liked romance- in a more reserved, smaller dose kind of way. Buut . . . there was something he could do. A smile spread across his face and he rushed forward. Chuck jumped on the fountain ledge and raised his in fists victory.

"She loves me!"

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Sarah flipped through stations on the TV, trying to find something to distract her. She hadn't been able to fall asleep after Chuck had left. There was simply too much running through her brain, too many endorphins storming her system. While she'd been happy she told Chuck she loved him, she kind of felt a small, irrational desire to be alone with that, let it really sink in, in her own mind.

He'd left some time ago and that desire had left shortly thereafter, replaced with impatience for his return. Sleeping would have been the best way to pass the time- at least then he'd be in her dreams- but it just wouldn't happen. Sitting alone in hospital room should be enough to drive the most reasonable individual to sleep except there was simply too much adrenaline rolling through her system. No matter how tired she may be, sleep would be elusive for quite some time.

Suffice it to say, that led to crappy, mid-morning soap operas. Who really cares if Susie's mother's ex-boyfriend's brother's friend's nephew- oh, where's a good book when you need it? Though, that probably wouldn't have been able to hold her attention any longer than TV had. That damn door just needed to open-

"Walker."

_Oh, thank god,_ she thought as she flipped off the TV. "Hey, Casey," Sarah said, watching him walk further into the room and drop a snack down on the rolling table tray. Her eyebrow rose. "Vanilla pudding?" she asked, taking the spoon he extended out to her.

Casey shrugged and he took the wheeled stool next to her. "Army buddy of mine swears by 'em." He peeled back the top of his own pudding, licking the excess off the top while Sarah failed to hide her smile.

"Wow, Casey," she laughed, "never would have taken you for a licker."

"It's tasty," came his simple reply.

She laughed again, spooning some of her own pudding. "It's vanilla. Can't be that tasty." She was soon eating her words when the surprisingly rich treat touched her taste buds. It was possibly the most delectable thing she'd eaten in a hospital. "Mmm, this could possibly be the exception, though."

Casey gave her a smug 'I-told-you-so' look and took a bite of his own treat causing Sarah to shake her head. "Where's your barnacle?" he asked.

"My barnacle?"

"Bartowski."

"Ah," she nodded, unable to stop the smile from forming at his name, "that barnacle." Had she really told him she loved him? How awesome was that? She shook her head in blissful disbelief and tried hard to wipe the smile from her face. Tried and failed. "He went home to get me some clothes."

Casey shook his head. "Whipped," he mumbled, though the word still rang clear as day to Sarah.

"Be nice, Casey," she warned playfully, "or I might just tell you all about it."

Casey groaned, his lip curling distastefully. He put his- thankfully- empty pudding container on the table.

Sarah smiled victoriously. "What? You don't want to swap stories?"

"No," he answered quickly. Perhaps a little too quickly, if Walker's smirk was anything to go by. He shifted his weight around in his seat. "I have no desire to hear about your games of slap and tickle with the nerd."

Sarah made a face and laughed. Slap and tickle? She thought for sure he'd go with hiding the salami. "Oh, Casey, that's vulgar."

Casey grunted approvingly to her reaction. Serves her right. "Yeah, well, there's nothing to tell."

"Sure, whatever you say, Casey," she said, her tone indicating anything but belief as she took the last bite of her dessert.

"There's not," he insisted then growled at himself. He wasn't doing a very good job of convincing her otherwise. His brief consideration of going back to Afghanistan after all of this was over, ended when he'd found himself back at his apartment with Grace and begrudgingly admitting to himself how nice it felt to have someone there who was concerned for his wellbeing. She was good company and, he had to admit, he really enjoyed it. Enjoyed her.

Sarah laughed but decided to let him off the hook. It wasn't a subject she wanted to broach with him anyway. There were not enough words in the English language to describe the awkwardness that would encumber that conversation. "So, what's up? How's Eve?"

"She's good. Still early but we're hopeful." Casey picked up both empty cups of pudding and wheeled over to the trash can. "I was just on my way out and thought I'd check on you."

"Oh, I see." Sarah smiled. "Extending your Uncle-ly duties towards me?" She knew it was probably more the partner's thing, but with opportunities to tease him being so rare, she wanted to take full advantage. For all the times he'd teased her about Chuck, it was about time for some payback.

Casey grumbled and gave her a bland look.

"Really, it's okay to admit it, Casey," she continued lightly, "In some bizarre, random way I've ended up as your niece. Bet you never thought that would happen when we first started working together."

"Bet you can't say the same either," Casey pestered right back, knowing that to be true. _There. Maybe that'll deflate her sails some. _

Sarah's smug expression fell. "Well, you got me there." Their reluctant partnership had turned into one of the most important parts of her life and now it held even more significance.

Casey grunted proudly. Seeing that she was perfectly fine, he got to his feet and headed for the door. "I'm glad you're okay." He paused before walking out. "Oh, and Walker?"

Sarah raised her brow questioningly.

"Just don't call me Uncle." He shut the door, Sarah's laughter trailing out after him.

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"Hiya, honey."

Sarah's smile just about split her face at the familiar voice. Under normal circumstances, she would have scolded herself for being so obvious but she just didn't care. "You're back." She eyed the bag in his hand curiously. "With a lot of stuff- Chuck, what is all this? I only asked for a shirt."

Chuck shrugged. "Oh, I know and I'm sure that's all you needed but I thought I'd bring you a few other things, too. Here." He held out a single gardenia to her. "This is for you."

"Thanks," she said, giving him a soft smile, bringing the flower to her nose for a quick sniff.

He returned the smile as he took a seat next to her on the bed, shifting the bag so he could sort through it on his lap. "I also brought you your toothbrush and a hairbrush- figured you'd also want those- and since you were wearing heels and a skirt yesterday, I took the liberty of bringing you some sandals and yoga pants. Hopefully they won't be too tight against your back. And," the last item he actually pulled out for her, "I couldn't allow you to be subjected to the bland hospital lunch so I made you your favorite- toasted turkey sandwich, extra pickles and the works, just the way you like it."

Her eyes lit up and her mouth watered expectantly. "Oh, you're too good to me."

"Hey," he said, brushing back her bangs, "I told you I'd take care of you and I meant it."

"Well, then, I think I'm still missing something," she said playfully.

Chuck's brow furrowed. "You are?"

"Yep." Sarah dropped the sandwich on her lap and ran her free hand up his chest, giving a tug on the collar of his jacket, hoping he'd pick up on what she wanted.

Never one to disappoint, understanding swept across Chuck's face. "Oh, you _are_." He leaned toward her. "Well, we can't have that now, can we?"

"Certainly not," she agreed before trapping her lower lip between her teeth in barely concealed anticipation. The closer he got, the faster her heart sped.

Knowing what she wanted, Chuck delayed, teasing her by pressing his lips to her forehead. He felt her eyelashes flutter against his chin. With a smirk, he lightly kissed each closed lid and down to her cheeks. She released a long, shaky breath against his neck. He caressed her nose with his- frustrating her with his lack of immediate compliance- waiting.

Sarah fought the urge to whimper. He moved so slowly. Deliberately. Clearly, he'd decided to take his time even if she wished he'd just do it already. Just as she opened her mouth to protest, Chuck cut her off, taking full advantage of the easy access she'd given him. _Yes, thank you, _she thought on a moan, nipping at his tongue in reprimand for his actions as it retreated back to his mouth.

He winced and hissed at the unexpected moved. "Ow, hey-"

Sarah kept her grip tight around his neck, preventing him from pulling away and cut off any further objections he may have had by soothing the sting away with her tongue. He pressed his mouth harder against hers, giving in to her. It was just so hard not to when she kept doing _that._ His hands slid up her back, squeezing at her shoulders before one went to her hair

Finally, after the need for oxygen became too great, Sarah's arms loosened and she hid her face in his chest while she caught her breath. The thump of his heartbeat against her ear made her smile. Adjusting her head slightly, she kissed the hallow of his throat. "I missed you." The confession spilled past her lips before she could stop it and her eyes widened. What was that? She just voiced a thought she'd had all afternoon without even thinking. Did he have to make her so senseless?

Chuck let out a laugh when he felt her body stiffen as she shook her head. "I missed you, too," he said, smoothing his hands across her back. He squeezed her to him, hoping to relax her. "You know, Sarah, you don't have to feel embarrassed about saying things like that."

"Really?" she asked, passing him a nervous, questioning glance through her lashes. "It doesn't make me sound like some clingy, sappy school-girl?"

"Oh, no, it totally does," he teased, a sage quality touching his voice. Sarah frowned and slapped his chest. Chuck laughed and covered her hand with his. "But that's okay. I honestly don't care. Cling away. I kinda like it."

Sarah let out breathy chuckle and rolled her eyes, though his words helped to ebb her embarrassment. She just wasn't used to being so open all the time. It was weird. She lied back against the bed and found him watching her with the cheekiest grin on his face. "What?"

"It's cute when your face gets all red like that."

Sarah scoffed and brought a hand up to her brow to hide what she was certain was her deepening blush. "Don't make fun of me, Chuck. This is entirely new territory for me."

"Alright, I'm sorry." He rubbed her hip affectionately. "Embarrassment isn't something I'm used to in this relationship- at least coming from you anyway. It's practically a daily occurrence with me. It's sweet."

"Golly gee," she said with a smirk, "Thanks for making me feel like I'm eight."

The door opened quietly and Dr. Williams came in. "Oh, good. You're awake." He shut the door and looked to Chuck. "Mr. Bartowski."

Chuck nodded moved out of the way so Dr. Williams could tend to Sarah. He put the duffle bag on the table and pretended to occupy himself with the contents, keeping a close eye on the happenings across the room.

"So how are you feeling?" he asked, picking up he chart to review.

Sarah shrugged. "A little stiff, but otherwise I'm fine." She neglected to mention the sore part. That had to be a given though it wasn't nearly as awful as it had been this morning.

"Good." He finished marking his notes and glanced at Chuck, then back to Sarah. "Now, I'd like to make sure you are able to stand and move for some time before I let you go. Half-hour at least, to make sure your endurance is acceptable. I was going to have Ethan come but-"

"I'll go," Chuck said, raising his hand.

Dr. Williams looked at him curiously, wondering why he was raising his hand.

Chuck swallowed and brought his hand down to rub his jeans. "I can- I can do it- I'll go."

"No one was really debating that, Mr. Bartowski. I was just about to suggest that anyway."

Chuck laughed sheepishly. "Right, well . . . you know."

Dr. Williams smiled and looked back to Sarah, patting her on the knee. "I'll meet you back here in thirty minutes."

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Chuck lazily escorted Sarah through the halls of the hospital. He thought of going outside but the late afternoon wind made it kind of chilly even to him. And he had a coat, never mind wearing only a hospital gown that was quite billowy. Besides, he knew where she'd want to go anyway now that she was allowed to be up and around.

"So, what did you do all afternoon?" Sarah asked trying to convey casual interest. He'd certainly taken his time coming back. Not that she was upset. She'd asked him to go but she didn't think he'd take that nearly three hours to come back.

Chuck smiled. So she had noticed. "Just ran a few errands. I took Morgan's bike back to him at the Buy More and cleaned out my locker. We had some lunch afterwards."

Sarah's eyes narrowed. "You took Morgan's bike to him in my car?" she asked with a hint of anger. "How on Earth did you manage that?"

Chuck hastened to explain. "With th- with the top down and blankets over the seat to protect the leather."

Sarah raised a brow. "Oh."

"I promise nothing is damaged. Everything is . . ." he trailed off, making an a-okay sign with his hand, "spick and span."

She rolled her eyes, still not entirely happy with the decision. But what's done is done. She still had to get the thing detailed after her little stint with denting the door so it's not like she could be entirely upset at him. Now that Chuck wouldn't have access to a NerdHerder, she supposed they'll have to rent a car while hers is in the shop. She shook her head, pushing out those thoughts for another time. "How's Morgan doing with your decision to quit?"

Chuck grimaced. "Well, no one thought I was serious about it, but I think he'll be okay. I, uh, I told him about Eve and what happened. Not everything, but he knows you have a sister that's sick and yesterday you donated your marrow. He doesn't know about the not growing up together and all that stuff." He smiled. "After a few grumbles about not being set up on a date with 'your hot girlfriend's sister,' he seemed to come around."

"Oh, I bet Anna would be _so_ delighted to hear about that."

His smile turned pained. "They broke up actually."

"Oh no," she said. "Is he okay?"

"Yeah. He said it'd been coming. They haven't been talking all that much and just sort of drifted apart." He shrugged. "Maybe that makes it easier for him but I can tell he's still sad."

Sarah nodded. "Does that mean you guys are going to have one of your all-nighters playing video games?" she asked, hoping she didn't sound too disappointed. She knew Morgan meant a lot to Chuck but she wanted him all to herself- at least for tonight. She just told him she loved him. It was a big thing. Couldn't they have some time to savor that together?

"No," he said. "Well, not yet anyway. He huffed about it and tried to get me to change my mind but I stuck to my guns and told him no. We planned on next weekend, if that's okay with you."

Sarah tried to smother her smile, but she just couldn't help it knowing she came first for him. "Sure. I'll even buy the grape soda and cheese balls for his generosity." They stopped near the corner to Eve's room and she moved to stand in front of him. "You can even tell him tomorrow night, if you want, but I want you all to myself for today."

"Oh." Chuck wiggled his eyebrows suggestively and leaned down to peck her lips. "I still think I'll stick with next weekend."

Sarah laughed and turned to finish her way to Eve's room. Since they were out, she wanted to check on her. That Chuck had led them here without her even asking him to was just another reason to add on the growing list of reasons to love him. He really knew her well.

Sarah paused at window, taking in the scene before her. Eve was fast asleep on the bed. The room had been given a more homely touch with the family pictures sitting out on the bedside table and two dozen or so get well cards strewn about the room. Sarah imagined those must be from Eve's friends and family. The most important piece, though, was the mother watching on as her child slept. Trisha had a book in her hands, opened halfway, but she wasn't reading it. Her intense focus stayed on Eve, watching for the slightest signs of distress.

Eve sucked in a deep breath and moved her head around. Trisha jumped and the book in her hands shot up so quickly that Sarah almost had to laugh. The book was a roués so Eve would know she'd been hovering. When Eve didn't open her eyes, Trisha relaxed and the book dropped back to her lap.

Sarah smiled sadly. She was happy for Eve, but a small part of her burned with envy. To have a relationship like that was something Sarah could only dream of.

Chuck knew what she was thinking. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder, giving a supportive squeeze. He had been lucky enough to have Ellie and the mixed motherly, sibling relationship they'd shared. Sarah had a father that kept her at arms length.

Sarah looked at him and dropped her head to his shoulder in thanks. With a resolute breath, she changed her smile to a happier one, her moment of self-pity passing, and knocked lightly against the window. Trisha just about jumped out of her skin again. This time, Sarah did laugh as did Trisha. Trisha held up a finger and shook Eve's shoulder.

Eve's brow furrowed as she tried wake up. She yawned and looked at her mother, who towards the window. She followed the finger to see Sarah and Chuck. Eve gave them a tired but happy smile and waived before readjusting herself on the bed and closing her eyes again.

Trisha looked back to them and shrugged. Sarah smiled and shook her head, waiving goodbye to Trisha. They made their way back to her room in silence.

She was ready to go home.

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"So what do you want to do first now that we're home?" Chuck asked as he walked back down the hallway. They'd gotten home around five and he left Sarah in the living room so he could put her things away.

Sarah looked up from her place on the couch. "I don't know. I'm kind of beat. I think I just wanna take a bath and watch a movie tonight or something."

_Perfect,_ Chuck thought. Getting Sarah to have a bath would give him plenty of time to set up the surprise he'd started before he left to get her from the hospital. "Ah ha. That's what I thought. Even prepped the tub and everything."

Sarah smiled. "So that's what was taking you so long. I started to wonder."

"Just thinking ahead." He held out his hands to her. She pouted some at the thought of moving but took his hands anyway. He pulled her to her feet and guided her down the hall. She dragged her feet but kept up with his slow pace. The thought of a nice warm bath sounded wonderful but she hadn't expected to move right at that moment. Granted, she may never have made it to the bath had he not encouraged her. She was tired of smelling like hospital anyway.

Once in the bathroom, Chuck let go of her hands and knelt to check the temperature and water level. It was a little hard to tell with all the bubbles. Satisfied everything was in order, he got to his feet. "Okay," he said, "why don't you get settled and I'll grab you a fresh towel?"

Sarah nodded in reply and he gave her a kiss on his way out. She stripped down and dipped her toes into the water, testing the temperature for herself. It was a bit on the hot side but not enough to deter her from getting in. Just as she was settling back against the ceramic, Chuck came back in, fluffy white towel in hand.

He smiled. "Comfortable?"

"Very." She watched him make his way to the toilet and put the lid down to rest the towel on it. She brought her leg up and poked him with her toes, suds sticking to the material of his jeans. "Won't you join me?"

Chuck smiled as he crouched next to her head. "Tempting, but no. I've gotta help Devon with his computer." _Please buy it, please buy it, please buy it,_ he chanted to himself. He had practiced that all afternoon to make it sound as nonchalant as possible.

"Oh," she said, somewhat disappointedly. "Can't you just do it later?"

"You would think, but it has something to do with his job." He shrugged. "I don't know. I just want to get it over with and then we'll have all evening. Give me thirty minutes tops."

Sarah sighed. "Oh-kay. I guess I'll just have to make do without this time. You're getting disappointingly good at this whole 'no' thing, you know," she said lightheartedly. "We should talk about this. I don't like it."

Chuck laughed. "You didn't mind it before."

"That's because you were saying no to Morgan, not me."

"Well, sorry." He gave her a kiss on the cheek and headed for the door.

"You don't sound sorry," she grumbled and Chuck grinned. "I still think you should join me."

He turned to her, hand poised on the knob. "Next time."

"I'm holding you to that!" she shouted after him.

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Sarah watched the last of the bubbles swirl down the drain before turning on the shower head for a quick rinse. She'd lounged until the water turned cool and then decided not to add anymore hot water. Her skin was all pruney anyway and her stomach had grumbled more than once. She stepped out of the shower and dried herself off, wondering if Chuck had decided on something to eat and if not they could choose together. Maybe a pizza. Yeah, that's a good idea. Then they wouldn't have to go anywhere nor would they have to cook.

She had to admit, that bath had really hit the spot. He back felt much better. She went over to Chuck's dresser and grabbed another one of his t-shirts, lifting it to her nose to smell before slipping her arms through the holes. Satisfied that he'd be okay with pizza, she decided to forego pants and just stuck with her boyshorts. She went back to the bathroom and put on deodorant and applied moisturizer to her face before brushing out her damp hair and grabbing a ponytail holder on her way out.

"Hey, Chuck?" she called down the hall while gathering back her hair, only half paying attention to where she was going. "Are you back yet? I was thinking maybe we could order some pizza for dinner cause I'm getting kinda-" She stopped short at the end of the hallway. The table was set for two, a single candlelight flickering in the middle. The plates were filled with chicken sitting on a bed of pasta, covered with melted cheese and pepperoni.

"Chicken pepperoni," she whispered to herself. He knew her favorite dinner? He knew her favorite dinner. Even Bryce had gotten that wrong. _Well, screw pizza._

"I found the recipe online and followed it to a T."

Sarah startled at his voice, following him with her eyes as he put down two glasses filled with soda. A dish towel rested over his shoulder and he'd even changed into a navy blue button up. "You made it?"

He shrugged shamefacedly. "It's a little overdone but I hope you like it," he said, hopelessly nervous. He pulled out her chair and waited for her to say something or move, but she stood quietly for the longest time, staring at the table and all around before finally meeting his eyes.

"I love you."

His nerves gave way and Chuck smiled widely. He'll never get tired of hearing that. He'd do this everyday if it meant keeping that contentment filling up her whole being. Standing tall, he extended his hand to her, which she took. He pressed a soft kiss to the back of it and pulled her to him. "I love you, too."

Sarah wrapped her arms around his neck, drawing up on her tiptoes to kiss him on the lips. His hand fumbled for a safe place, not wanting to hurt her back and hips before curling around her mid-back. She laughed into the kiss, relishing in his considerateness. She briefly thought about going back down the hall to change into something else. How could she possibly have the most romantic dinner of her life in a t-shirt and boyshorts? Pizza was one thing, but he really tried. Yep, she should change. "I'm gonna go change."

"Sarah, wait," Chuck said, keeping a tight grip on her. "You don't have to change."

"But-"

"That's the beauty of having dinner at home. You can wear whatever you want. Besides," he leaned down giving her an extra long kiss, "you look sexy as hell."

Sarah blushed crimson. Always so genuine.

"Come on, then," he said, releasing her and going for the chair. "You said you were hungry. Let's eat."

Sarah looked towards the hallway, obviously deciding if she should change despite his protest. Chuck stole her attention by rattling the chair. She shook her head and took the seat.

Yep, she was really going to have the most romantic dinner of her life in underwear and a t-shirt.

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After dinner, Chuck and Sarah were snuggled on the couch, some spy comedy playing quietly on the TV. She had only been half paying attention. That was about all she could manage after she'd spent the first third of the movie revamping their mission, futile as that was. It's not as though they'd actually remake the movie to follow proper procedure. What struck her as odd, though, was that she knew Chuck had been enjoying the movie but it'd been at least twenty minutes since he'd last laughed.

Sarah listened to the thump, thump, thump of his heart. It did nothing to hide the sound of the wheels grinding in his brain. He thinks awfully loud sometimes. Knowing his thoughts were anywhere but at what was playing on the screen, she took a chance.

"What ya thinkin' about, Chuck?" Sarah asked quietly, almost afraid of speaking too loud.

Chuck sucked in a breath, craning his neck to find her watching him. He gave her a smile. "Nothing, everything- I don't know." He shrugged his opposite shoulder. "Just thoughts."

"Okay," she said, furrowing her brow at his uncharacteristic ambiguity. "Care to share?"

"It's just . . . well . . ." Chuck scratched at his cheek nervously, wondering if it was actually appropriate to bring this up at this particular juncture. Sparing a contemplative look around the living room before meeting her curious stare, her eyes glittered with interest. He smiled contentedly while studying her face, lifting a hand to tuck her hair behind her ear. It was still a little wet to the touch after her bath. Sarah leaned into his touch, the movement making his mind for him. He wanted this every night- to sit next to her and watch movies after dinner, be together- and she said forever. Now he needed to figure exactly what that meant for her. Because he knew what that meant for him. He shifted on the couch, forcing her to sit up so he could face.

Sensing a serious turn to the evening, Sarah sat up straight, resting her arm against the back of the couch, waiting for him to start.

"I . . . wonder," he began hesitantly, "-and tell me if this freaks you out, but I just wanna know- what's your plan?"

"My plan?" she repeated, not realizing she was supposed to have thought of one. Frankly, this was the plan- for the next few days, at least, anyway. Lounging around, spending time together- that's pretty much all she wanted to do. Unless there was supposed to be something else happening.

"Yeah," he said. "I mean, I'm only going to be the Intersect for a few more days before Bryce gets it and you've made it clear you aren't going with him-"

Sarah smiled with relief at his words. He finally got it. She figured he had before but he just said that without even the slightest trace of doubt.

"So I just wanna know what that means, because you said forever and I- I'm wondering what you . . . expect, maybe is the word for it?- I don't know. That might be wrong."

"Oh," Sarah said, realizing this plan she was to have was meant for a bigger scope than just the next few days. After a moment of thought, she cleared her throat in preparation. "Isn't it more of a question of what _our_ plan is? I mean, you're not working at the BuyMore anymore and you won't be the Intersect." She looked down to her lap, finding her hands far more interesting at the moment while she hid her embarrassment. "You said you'd get it out and that afterwards you'd live the life that you wanted with the woman that you love . . ." she trailed off with a self-conscious shrug, "When you said that, I guess I just hoped you were talking about me."

"I was," he said, not missing a beat, absolute certainty in his tone.

Sarah bit her lip bashfully, smiling all the while. Now it was her turn to look around the apartment, gathering her thoughts, shocked that this could actually be the rest of her life. Never in a million years did she ever think this would be how things would turn out for her. "I'll be honest," she said, taking his hand in hers, "the idea of marriage _completely_ freaks me out- and that has nothing to do with you. I mean, I'm still getting used to the idea of actually having a place to call home." Finally meeting his eyes again, she said, "But someday . . ."

Chuck smiled and squeezed her hand. "Someday," he promised.

Sarah blushed. _Oh, this is so awkward,_ she thought. _Good, but awkward._ "What are you expecting, though? Am I supposed to retire or-"

Chuck cut her off, "Sarah, you love being a spy." He let out a breath of exasperation. This was something he didn't want to say. He really didn't see how this would work out if she was still jet-setting around the world. But he couldn't take away something that was such a big part of her identity, no matter what he wanted.

"Buut . . ." Sarah prompted.

Chuck shook his head. "I'm not gonna tell you what to do. If you want to stay a spy, then we'll just have to figure something out."

"You'd be okay with that?"

"Sure- especially if you're still partnered with Casey. At least then I'd know you'd be in good hands." Chuck fell quiet for a moment before adding, "Plus, it's kind of hot to have a spy for a girlfriend. _Every_ nerds dream."

Sarah scoffed and rolled her eyes, slapping her hand against his chest. "You silly man. It's not like you could actually tell anyone. But . . ." she shrugged, "well, it wouldn't be the same without you."

Chuck's eyes lit up. "Why? Does that mean you want to do something else?" he asked in quick succession. He grimaced at how hopeful he sounded. If he were to be honest, he hoped that she'd leave the spy life behind for a normal life but he'd never ask her to do it. Being a spy was far too important to her. As a sort of compromised, he offered, "I mean, Beckman did offer me that position as an analyst. We could still work together . . . kinda."

"That's right," Sarah drawled, "She did." In any case, she was still undecided on the subject, even after talking to that mysteriously insightful cop. She loved being a spy but at the same time, she wanted to be around Chuck and Evie and she couldn't very well do that if she was bopping around from mission to mission. But the problem remains- if she wasn't a spy, then what was she? "Can I think about it?"

That answer surprised him. He thought for sure she'd stay in the game. But maybe . . . just maybe. "Sure. Though, since I need a job, can I take it?"

"You can work anywhere, you know? It doesn't have to be for the government."

"Yeah, but at least then I'd have an inside eye on my sister."

"True." This was getting a bit too weird for her. It was a conversation that needed to be done but small amounts at a time was about all she could take. Sarah took an audible breath and changed the subject. "Let's talk about something else." She got up to her knees, using the rare opportunity to loom over him.

Chuck, chuckling at her sudden change, immediately moved his hands to her sides for support, noticing the slight wince she made at the adjustment. "Okay, what would you rather talk about?" he asked.

Sarah smiled mischievously and shrugged. "Well, talking's not so much what I had in mind," she said before tucking her bottom lip between her teeth and raising her brow, wear the most hopeful expression on her face.

Chuck's jaw dropped and he felt desire flush his entire body, yet somehow found the strength to not act. "Sarah, you just got out of the hospital-" he tried, feebly.

"I know." She stooped down to kiss his neck, working her way up to his ear. "Just means you have to get creative and that I get to be on top for once."

_Yep, that does it._ Any further thoughts of protest shut down with her response. In a startling display of strength his still sore muscles groaned at, Chuck managed to get to his feet, barely missing a step while hauling Sarah over his shoulder, making her giggle. "I can live with that," he said, heading straight for the bedroom.

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A/N: So there you go. If you'd like to, I'd love to hear what you think =)


	39. Chapter 39

A/N: So I had this done before the beginning of the year but between internet issues, holidays, and illnesses, I'm only able to post it now. Hope all of your guys' year has been far and above what mine has been =)

Thanks for continuing to read and review and for all your kind words. Thanks to Bill for looking it over. If you haven't yet checked out his awesome story, The Long Road Back, I highly recommend you do. Its action packed, romance packed, and (small spoiler) Shaw dies how he shoulda- hee! Oh, and it's updated regularly so that's a fun perk! Though it is near completion, but hey, then you don't have to wait =)

Oh, and Happy Chuck Day!

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Chapter Thirty-Nine

There was nothing quite like waking up on your own without any interruptions from alarm clocks or tainted dreams, no instinctively waking up every couple hours just to make sure everything was as it should be, or tossing and turning, getting yourself all twisted up in the sheets. Just a well-rested, natural progression to alertness and for the first time in a long time, Sarah felt that upon awakening. She began to arch her back in preparation to stretch but the sharp twinge made her think better of it.

_Oohh- nope, nope. That's painful. _

Okay, so, moving any time soon would not be happening. Instead, Sarah settled for the sorely short alternative of reclosing her eyes and yawning while she nestled back into the bed, ruminating over the night's activities that led to this consequential morning stiffness. Last night, while admittedly not in her best interest, had been so, so very worth it. Making love with Chuck was . . . different- somehow- now that she'd told him she loved him. She'd known a long time ago they'd never have just sex- that much had been evident even before she'd said anything- but, goodness, it was like nothing she'd ever imagined after. And who knew Chuck could get so inventi-

_Yeah, probably best not to go down that road, Sarah, otherwise your lack of self control will make you hurt even more._

Even with the warning, the memories forced a salacious smile to blossom across her face, unable to completely stop herself from thinking about it. She sucked in a deep breath and shook her head. _Oh, boy, oh boy. You're going to get yourself into trouble. _The hairs on the back of her neck began to stand on end, but not out of apprehension. Out of awareness- anticipation. She was being watched. Biting her lip, she looked to the left, finding her boyfriend watching her with a soft smile.

"Whatcha thinkin' about?" he whispered so as not to startle her. He'd spent the better part of the morning watching her sleep. Of course, he wouldn't tell her that. He'd gotten up maybe an hour or so ago. Long enough to leave the bed as gently as possible so she wouldn't wake, hit the bathroom, and dress. Then, he'd tiptoed out to the kitchen to get her a glass of water and some medicine. He could only imagine what she'd be feeling like this morning after last night. It'd been fun but there was no way she wouldn't be sore, that much was certain. After all that, he'd reclaimed his position overtop the covers and watched her sleep, enjoying the shifting expressions she'd had. She was simply captivating, so at ease since yesterday, and he couldn't help but to be caught up in it.

Sarah smiled and raised her brow suggestively but didn't answer. She scooted to her side to face him, ignoring the pain. He looked so adorable with his hair all mucked up from the pillow. His eyes were bright, like he'd been awake for some time and he had a t-shirt and sleep pants on. She distinctly remembered his lack of clothing- much like herself at the moment- when they finally fell asleep last night, so obviously he'd been up. Sarah reached out, gently caressing his face before threading her fingers through his hair.

Chuck's eyes closed on a sigh as she rubbed his earlobe between her thumb and forefinger. "Oo, I like where this is going."

Sarah laughed but didn't comment on his statement. She'd been trying to convince herself not to go down that road. Though, the smallest of encouragement from him would destroy the hint of resolve she'd managed to create. "How long have you been up?"

"A while," he said, smiling.

"And you didn't wake me? That's a little creepy, Chuck."

"Well, you looked so peaceful- I didn't want to disturb you. You haven't gotten much sleep lately so I just let you be." Sarah rolled her eyes affectionately, still keeping a smile on her face. Chuck lifted his head off his hands and said with earnest, "I wasn't even here the whole time, I promise. That has to make it less creepy, right?"

"Does it?" she asked flatly. She was a trained spy after all. Clearly he'd at least been up to change but she should have noticed he'd left. Maybe it was some lingering anesthesia or something. Yeah, that had to be it. There was no way she could be losing her touch. It hadn't been that long since she been on a mission, had it?

Sensing her mind drift, Chuck put his hand over her elbow, pulling her attention to him. "Hey, don't stress, Sarah. You've had a draining few weeks. Any sane person would have slept like a log _many_ nights ago."

Sarah shook her head with an amused smile. Of course he'd know what she'd been thinking. Why does she still wonder at that?

"So what do you want to do today?" he asked, hoping to keep a positive tone to the morning.

"Lay here," she responded quickly. She had no plans to move any time soon. It amazed her how much having your back injured took you out of commission. Even the slightest of movements caused a stitch. Nothing seriously unbearable- most of the time- but annoying nonetheless.

Chuck laughed. "Okay, good plan," he said dryly. He propped up on his elbow and leaned over her shoulder, reaching for the pills and water. His arm faltered a bit when she kissed his neck and he dropped his forehead to her neck before responding in kind. He lingered for a moment, waiting to see if she would push anything, knowing it couldn't be his choice. When she let out a sigh with just a hint of frustration but mostly content, Chuck smiled and pulled back to reveal the items to her.

Sarah rolled her eyes when she saw what he'd grabbed for. The glass of water even had a straw in it and everything. "You think of everything."

"I do my best," Chuck said as he gave a smug wiggle of his brow before leaning down to give her a proper good morning kiss. He was careful not to spill the water. If Sarah planned on sticking around in bed for a while, he certainly wouldn't be the one to ruin that.

Sarah fisted his t-shirt, pulling him even closer to her. She felt a little bad for him. He tasted like spearmint, whereas she was sure she had morning breath. On the other hand, though, kissing him . . . definitely the best way to start any day. No going back now anyway. And he started it. That'd be her story.

Chuck pulled back before things had a chance to get too heated, reminding himself- again- that, at the moment, he shouldn't push it– but he would, he really, really would. Sarah winced as she adjusted herself to be upright. "Would you like some food to go with this?" he asked as he handed her the medicine. "I can get you some toast or eggs . . . whatever you want."

Sarah considered the question as she took a swig of water, downing the medicine and weighing her options. Breakfast or company? Breakfast or company? Hmm . . . what to do? Breakfast meant leaving and this bed was just too warm and inviting and comfortable to leave. She set the glass back on the nightstand and looked to him with a thoughtful frown. "I don't really feel like moving."

"Well, you won't have to move, lazy," he said. She gave him a distasteful look and a quick backhand to his chest. _Lazy_ would not be a word she would use to describe herself. Chuck smiled and caught her hand, dropping a kiss to the back of it before bringing it against his chest again and holding it there. When he looked at her again, he could see she was trying to keep from smiling. "I'll bring you breakfast in bed."

Her brow crinkled in that cute little way it did when she thought he was speaking in a foreign language. "I've never had breakfast in bed."

His brow rose. "No?" he asked and Sarah shook her head. "Well, it's high time to remedy that, Walker." Chuck rolled off the side of the bed, waiting until the very last moment before he had to let go of her hand. "So what'll it be?" he asked as he rounded the foot of the bed, "A nice crepe or skillet bowl? French toast? Oh, oh, I know- an omelet." Sarah gave him a look and he dropped the charade. "Yeah, I probably can't make any of that." Well, _that_, and some of it would be too time consuming to figure out- though, he had a fairly decent recipe for French toast. He headed for the door. "Toast it is- and orange juice. I can do orange juice . . ."

His voice trailed off the further he moved down the hall and Sarah dropped back to lie on the bed. There was no doubt in her mind that she had the best boyfriend in the whole wide world. The thought of protesting had occurred to her, but having breakfast in bed like in all those movies Ellie had made her watch seemed like a fun thing to experience. It was something normal people did. So why not? She was hungry after all and he was offering.

With a smile, Sarah grabbed his pillow and hugged it to her chest, making herself comfortable before drifting off to sleep again.

..-. .- - .. .-.. -.- - .- - - . .-. … … - - .-.

Chuck moved slowly as he carried the tray of food and drinks down the hall. After all those missions posing as a waiter, one would think he'd have the hang of this, but dropping a drink had always been his thing- something he'd done regularly since childhood. Ellie never let him carry drinks. _Probably for the best,_ he thought considering anytime they went for fast food, they'd never make it home with any drinks. Probably why he finished them so quickly now.

Thank the heavens he'd thought to leave the door open when he left. Okay, maybe that hadn't been the plan, but it was open nonetheless.

Chuck let out a steadying breath. Seven more steps and he'd home free. Even with the dishes rocking and clanking, Sarah didn't look at him. In fact, she had herself turned towards his side of the bed. He sighed. _Damn._ As carefully as possible, Chuck crossed to the other side of the bed and placed the tray on the nightstand. His hands hovered for a moment, waiting for something to fall. When nothing did, his shoulders dropped. _Whew!_

He looked down at Sarah, the corners of his mouth twitching. Her nose was turned into his pillow as she hugged it to her chest. Only when he bent down and grabbed for the pillow did Sarah stir. "Fallin' asleep on me?" he teased, easing down next to her on bed to take the place of the pillow.

She squinted up at him. "Only a little," she said. "I'm not even all that tired." She slid closer to him, always more happy to have him over the pillow. He radiated warmth and love and home. Damn, if he hasn't made her entirely too sentimental.

"Okay." Chuck wrapped his arm around her and kissed the crown of her head. Content to stay cuddled with Sarah, he shut his eyes for a few moments. All of this down time had been most enjoyable. After two years of missions, he could honestly say he'd almost forgotten what a night off looked like and now after over a month without one, he doesn't want to go back. When he felt himself beginning to sway from awake to asleep and back again, he forced his eyes open, sucking in a gasp of air. "Hey, you want some breakfast?" he asked, groaning out the question as he attempted to stretch. "I made toast and scrambled eggs. I tried for the flat kind but that didn't really work out."

"You mean a fried egg," Sarah asked, looking down at him with a know-it-all grin as she took a bite of food.

Chuck rubbed his eyes. "Whatever. Still didn't work," he said around a yawn. "But I can scramble an egg so there." He sat up, brow furrowing in confusion. Sarah had the tray over her lap, one slice of toast missing and a bite in the other with the eggs half-gone. _What the . . ._

"And they're delicious," she said, taking another bite. She felt much better now that she had food in her stomach. Once realizing Chuck had fallen asleep- _after he gave me a hard time about that, the jerk_- Sarah got out of bed, picked up the t-shirt and underwear she'd been wearing the night before and took her tray of food back to her side of the bed, intent on enjoying breakfast where people were not supposed to eat. At least, that's what her dad said. Even if she was sick, on the rare occasion she'd told him, he still made her eat at the table. At Chuck's dubious and still confused look, she teased, "Fallin' asleep on me?"

He shook his head, deciding not to dwell on his confusion. "Only a little." His stomach growled lowly. Those snacks he'd had while he'd made her food must have digested. He reached for the piece of toast left on the plate but Sarah slapped his hand.

"Hey, that's mine."

"But-" Chuck fake huffed and pouted for a moment, "Won't you share?"

Sarah lifted a hand and threaded her fingers through his hair, amused to no end by his doe-eyed hopeful look. "Yes, of course I'll share," she said sweetly. Too sweetly. She picked up the toast and held it out to him. "All you have to do is ask."

Chuck opened his mouth. Just as he moved to snatch the toast from Sarah's hand, she pulled back with the tiniest flick of her wrist. "Hey," he said before trying again. It appeared she decided to play nice and let him have it. "Fnk oo."

Sarah laughed and then frowned, "Aw, Chuck, you're getting crumbs everywhere." She brushed at them futilely. "See, this is why my dad never let me do this. You're supposed to eat over a dish."

Chuck shoved his huge bite to one side of his mouth and sat up. "Don't freak out, Sarah. We'll just change the sheets. It's no problem." Now eye to eye with her, he worked to finish chewing his food and offered the toast back to her.

Sarah narrowed her eyes. "You really shouldn't talk with your mouth full, Chuck, it's unbecoming of you."

Chuck raised his brow with a smirk as if to say this probably won't be the last time, but didn't answer. Not if she's making comment such as that. Normally, he was quite conscientious of propriety and etiquette but sometimes it got away from him. Sarah rolled her eyes as she pushed his shoulder. He rocked back with a laugh before righting himself and offering the toast to her- but not talking. _I can follow directions . . . sometimes, anyway. _She shook her head but took a much more demure bite than he had. Chuck's smile grew. Now she was getting crumbs everywhere. He put the rest of the toast on the plate and made sure his mouth was all clear before asking, "Feel up for swimming today? It's nice out and I thought the water could take some strain off your back."

Sarah internally swooned at his thoughtfulness. With utmost certainty, she knew she'd be completely twitterpated by this man for the rest of her life- despite him having poor manners at times. She finished her bite with a pointed look before speaking. "Cool water, buoyancy . . . actually that's not half bad. Maybe in a little while."

"Sure, whatever you want." Chuck gave her a quick kiss and got out of bed, taking the tray with him.

His response made her frown. _Whatever you want. How 'bout breakfast in bed. I don't want to leave you by yourself. What are your plans?_ Something swirled through her gut but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. She wasn't upset at him for wanting to do things for her but it shouldn't be at his expense. As of late, they hadn't done anything he'd wanted to do. It was disheartening how he'd put himself on the backburner. Yes, she'd just had surgery, but the world didn't stop revolving just because the earth quaked. She refused to let him make himself her slave. Maybe if they ever role played . . . _Stop that. Dirty thoughts later. _In a flash, she was out of bed. "Hey, wait."

Chuck turned back, startled to find that she was right in front of him and no longer in bed.

Sarah grabbed the tray from his hands. "I've got this, Chuck." She made sure to keep any annoyance out of her tone, side-stepping his slack-jawed expression and heading for the kitchen.

The space was too tight for him to get in front of her to make her stop but he followed right on her heels. "But I'm supposed to take care of you."

"And you're doing a phenomenal job," she explained simply, setting the dishes in the sink, "but I have to do some things, too. You cooked, I'll clean. It's only fair." She turned on the water. "And besides, you did everything last night so technically, I owe you one."

Sarah was tiny but she was doing a fantastic job at blocking him from the sink. "We're not keeping score, Sarah," he said, then shrugged matter-of-factly, "At least, I'm not, anyway."

Sarah sighed, scrubbing circles into her plate. _Good. Because you'd win. In spades._ "I'm not keeping score either." _Liar._ "I just- I don't want you to do everything." Satisfied the plate was clean, she put it in the dishwasher and rinsed her glass and utensils to follow. The rest of the sink was clean. She kind of wished he'd left whatever he'd used this morning but she was pretty sure after growing up with Ellie that would never happen.

"Okaay," Chuck said begrudgingly. Though her back was to him, he tilted his head questioningly. "Is this because I made you breakfast in bed? Am I overstepping some sort of boundary I'm unaware of?"

"No, Chuck," she said, closing the dishwasher. She dried her hands and finally looked at him. She paused, watching him for a moment. "It's just . . . there are two people in this relationship but it feels like we're only acknowledging one."

"Oh." He shuffled his feet, unsure of what to say. He looked around the kitchen for a moment before settling his eyes on her. She was leaning against the counter, one arm folded across her stomach, the other hand tugging at her lips. He sighed. "I don't know what to say other than I don't feel neglected. I mean . . . the really big stuff is just happening in your life at the moment. When the big stuff was happening to me, you were there. You've been there every step of the way through this whole Intersect debacle. You came for me when they were gonna put me in the bunker. You came for me when Forrest was around. You had faith in me when Roan didn't. You stood up to my sister- something _I_ can't even remember the last time I did. You found my father."

Sarah scoffed. "Lotta good that one did me. It completely backfired."

"No it didn't. You made my sister's day. To me, that's worth it." He shrugged. "Did I want it to go differently? Yeah. But I can't change that it didn't so until he decides to tell me what happened or apologize, I don't how much we're going to fix. And I'm gonna talk to him, because you asked me to. So you know, though, if it's you or him, you'll win every time."

"But-"

"No buts," Chuck said as he stepped up to her, pinning her- but not forcefully- to the counter and bracketing his arms around her. "Unlike him, you've never abandoned me, even when the chances have presented themselves. So you do tons of things for me, Sarah. It's just that, now it's your turn and I'm okay with that. And letting me do things for you is one of those many things."

_Well, when you put it that way_, she thought.

"Just know, that if, after this horrid conversation you're forcing me to have with my father goes terribly wrong and I'm a blubbering mess, you get to deal with it."

Sarah eyes sparked mischievously. "I get to kick your father's ass?"

Chuck laughed. She almost sounded hopeful. "Oh, Sarah."

"What?" she asked, a small smile playing at her lips while she snaked her arms around his neck. "Its how I deal with things."

_Ain't that the truth? _He sighed. "Okay then."

"Really? I have your permission?"

Okay, now he knew she was hoping for it. Chuck shrugged. "If its how you deal with things."

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After a simple, easy lunch of tomato soup and grilled cheese, the couple found themselves lounging in the shaded pool. Sarah had to admit, Chuck's idea had been perfect. This whole day felt like one big stress reliever. Just the breather she needed. They used these pool noodle things that Sarah had never heard of before to help them tread water as they chatted and swapped stories. Chuck had even figured out how to make his shoot water and got into a nice water fight with the neighbor's grandkids. They were kind enough not to drag her into it, but it just seemed like too much fun to pass up. So she sneak attacked Chuck, much to the children's amusement, dunking him under the water and swimming to deeper water.

The look of faux indignation he had when he came after her would be something she remembered for years to come. Now that the kids knew she was fair game, they'd taken Chuck's side and managed- after several failed attempts- to finally trap her in the deepest corner of the pool. Chuck figured she'd finally given up so the kids wouldn't get discouraged.

When they tired of that game, the littlest, Michael, ran inside to get water guns and that opened up the whole courtyard. They divided up into three teams- Chuck with the oldest boy, Anthony and Sarah with Michael. Davey decided to be a renegade Rambo and be on his own.

So here she was, dripping from head to toe in water, wearing only a bikini, carrying a tiny plastic gun filled with water for ammo and waiting for the enemy to show themselves. The strangest sensation came over her when she thought that, ten years from now, she could totally see this playing out with their children- _Wait, what?_

"Sarah Walker!"

_Uh oh._

"What on earth are you doing?"

Sarah sprung up from her hiding spot, whipping around to find herself face to face with an incredulous Ellie and- was that amusement on Stephen's face? "Um . . . playing?" she offered with a sheepish shrug.

"Ha, ha!" Davey said as he sprung from his hiding place behind the pot and shot Sarah in the stomach.

"Davey!" Michael shouted before shooting his brother. Davey went down with such dramatics that Sarah had to hold in a giggle. They watched the young Michael step up to his downed brother and shoot him again.

"Hey!"

"That's for shooting my partner," he said, his bottom lip sticking out petulantly as he stomped over to Sarah. Then his whole demeanor changed. He climbed up on the fountain ledge, trying to get as tall as he could. The boy was five so he only made it to her shoulder. "Are you okay, Miss Sarah?"

Sarah smiled and ran her fingers through his hair. "Just fine, Sweetie. Thanks for getting him."

"Of course! Boys aren't supposed to shoot girls."

"That's right," she said with an affirmative nod. _If only others shared that sentiment._

"Davey! Michael! Anthony! It's time to come inside and wash up. Your parents will be here soon."

"Awww," a collective groan chorused, echoing through the courtyard.

She smiled. "Here you go, Sweetie," Sarah said giving Michael her gun.

"Will you play with us again next year?" he asked. They kids were from back east and spent the week with their grandparents while their parents went on a cruise. They had a long road trip a head of them but the boys got along great so their parents had nothing to worry about.

Sarah crouched down to be face to face with him. "Chuck and I live right over there," she pointed to their door, "and we'd love to play with you guys next year. Just come knock." _Take that, Mr. I'm-protecting-him-from-you._

Michael smiled bashfully. "Okay. Bye, Miss Sarah," he said, draping his arms around her neck.

Sarah hugged him back. "Bye, Michael. See you next year." She held his hand as he jumped down from the ledge running back over to he grandparent's house.

Davey waived, "Bye, Miss Sarah."

"See you later, kid."

"Bye, Sarah!" Anthony shouted. "Bye, Chuck!"

Sarah waived at the closing door, taking a deep breath before turning to look at Ellie.

Ellie was smiling but still shaking her head. "Why are you playing? Shouldn't you be resting? You just had surgery."

Sarah's eyes widened and cut over to Stephen. He didn't know about that. At least, she didn't think he knew about that. "I'm fine, Ellie. It was just a little harmless fun."

"Even still you gotta take it easy."

"Relax, Ellie," Chuck said as he handed Sarah her towel. "I was there the whole time. Do you really think I'd let her overdo it?"

Sarah wrapped the towel around her middle. She wasn't uncomfortable standing there in a bikini. It was, however, awkward with Chuck's dad there. And the whole surgery thing had been something she'd hoped he wouldn't get to know. "I promise I'll take it easier from now on."

"We just want you to get better."

"I know, and I will," she said, leaning into Chuck's side when he wrapped his arm around her shoulder and kissed her temple.

Ellie shook her head. What's done is done. "What are your plans for the night?" she asked, hoping to get them to come over for dinner so she can try to straighten out things between her brother and father.

"Chuck is going out with Morgan because he broke up with Anna and I'm going to visit Eve." If he knew about the surgery now, it was only a matter of time until Eve was brought up.

"Yeah, we're going to go play arcade games at the pier."

"Ah." _Dang it._ "Well you guys have fun. I've gotta get cracking on this dinner." She smiled and made her way over to her apartment.

"Bye, Ellie," Chuck and Sarah said together.

Stephen watched Ellie go and then looked back at Chuck and Sarah. He didn't say anything and Chuck wouldn't be the one to break the silence now. Sarah, for her part, already said her piece. Stephen gave Chuck and Sarah one last appraising look and then left.

"That was delightful," Chuck said, rubbing her arm when he felt her teeth start to chatter. She'd been fine when they were running around and hadn't been thinking about how cold it'd been, but now, it was noticeable. "Come on, let's go get changed. You're shivering."

..-. .- - .. .-.. -.- - .- - - . .-. … … - - .-.

Once inside, Chuck decided to take the second shower, finding the temptation would be too much if they shared. He'd noticed the way she walked gingerly into their home so anything of a risqué nature would be out of the question. But that's okay. They didn't have much time anyway.

While Sarah showered, he'd changed the sheets and started a load of laundry. He'd be able to switch it before they had to leave. Though he'd rather stay with Sarah, Morgan had called just after lunch to beg him to do something and both of them caved. She did get to have him all to herself last night. Sarah made quick work of the shower and before he knew it, it was his turn to get ready for the evening.

In no time he was making his way back to the living room and found Sarah sitting at the piano bench. He watched her tilt her head back and forth as if analyzing whether or not she might be able to play something. He waited, hopefully keeping his presence unknown, wondering if she would actually play something. She could play the violin so he didn't doubt she might be able to play at least one song on the piano.

"You gonna stand there all night or are you gonna come play something for me?"

The unexpected sound of her voice made him jump. She looked back just in time to see him recovering. "I'll never be able to get one past you," he said, shoulders slumping as he fake stomped across the room. "Freakin' spy."

Sarah laughed. "Hey, now, you're supposed to be immensely proud of that fact," she said, sliding over to make room for Chuck.

"I am," Chuck huffed before dropping to the bench. "Doesn't mean I like it all the time. Where's the surprise?"

"I don't like surprises."

"So you've said," Chuck said and because he couldn't deny her anything, his hands went to the keys. He tested out the sound, running through different chords, and making certain it was still in tune. Amazingly enough, it was. "Wow, I can't believe this thing is still in tune."

Sarah smiled as she listened to him play, her eyes darting back and forth between his hands and his face. He looked . . . pleased. "So you were in a band with Gavin growing up?" she asked as he started to play something vaguely familiar to her ears.

Chuck lifted a shoulder as best he could. "Yeah, for like a blink and you'll miss is moment. We never got along really well growing up so it's no surprise the band thing didn't go well either."

"Hard to imagine you not getting along well with anyone," she said, placing her hand on his thigh.

He looked down to her hand, faltering slightly in his playing. "It happens," he replied, turning to give her a smile. "But he's not that bad. We're an interesting version of friends, but still friends. Just not the kind where you care whether or not you ever see them again."

"So like Carina?"

"I don't know, Sarah," he said, "I think for all your differences and all the trouble she gets you into, you'd still miss her if she never came around."

She sighed. "You're probably right." Actually, she knew he was right. There were times when she missed the fire-haired vixen- even for all the grief having her around caused. "Did you guys always do rat-pack stuff?"

"Rat-pack," Chuck's brow rose, "Pop-culture, I'm impressed." Sarah rolled her eyes, giving him a quick backhand to his opposite thigh, before settling where it had been originally. He laughed and shook his head and answered her question. "Yeah, mostly. Gavin always favored Sinatra," he said, unconsciously beginning to play _For Once in My Life_ by the aforementioned crooner.

Surprisingly enough, Sarah immediately recognized the song right off the bat. All those long road trips, he father would be disappointed if she hadn't known it. She smiled, thinking it fit perfectly for this moment. "And you don't?"

Chuck shrugged, never breaking his stride. "I'm more of a Dean Martin kinda guy myself."

"Oh," she said, straightening in her seat, "I see. Fair enough."

"What, you don't like Dean Martin?"

Sarah shrugged. "I didn't say that. Just saying everyone's entitled to their opinion."

"Uh, Sarah," Chuck gasped, "Are you saying I'm wrong?"

"Not at all. I don't have an opinion myself. It's just the music my dad listened to. Something about Ocean's Eleven and conning or whatever. Honestly, I don't have a preference."

"Hm."

She let out a small laugh and dropped her head to his shoulder, doing her best to keep from impeding his movement while she listened to the soothing melody. Her smile grew as he started to hum along where the words would be. How nice would it be to have this be the way they wound down for the night? A nice, relaxing family dinner, a glass of wine, followed by Chuck playing a few songs- better yet he could sing. The man had pipes. Two years of knowing him, she couldn't believe she'd never known . . . Actually, it's probably for the best that she hadn't known. "You should sing."

"What?"

"Yeah," she said, smiling as she sat up to face him, "you should sing."

Chuck smiled back. "Does this mean you play tomorrow night?"

"Well . . ." she trailed off, trying to think of a way out of it. "I haven't played in _years_- forever practically- so I'm not really sure that's a good ide-"

"Oh, come now, Sarah," he interrupted. "Fair's fair. I play, you play."

"Is that so?"

"Yes," he nodded resolutely. "Besides, I haven't played in years either. Well, anything serious anyway. But here I am playing."

"Yeah, but your instrument doesn't sound like nails on a chalkboard when you're out of practice."

"But you had all those years of practice. I bet you were really good."

"Well . . . I was supposed play the fiddler in the Fiddler on the Roof. It's just about the only thing significant my dad almost let me do."

Chuck's eyes widened and he stopped playing to look at her. "Seriously? That's awesome!" He brought a hand to his chest. "I played Perchik."

"Look at that."

"Yeah, something we have in common. Miracles will never cease," Chuck said. Then her words caught up to him. "Wait, you said almost . . ."

"Yeah, I had to skip town before I could actually do it," she said flatly.

"Aww, well that sucks."

Sarah shrugged. "Eh, it was probably for the best. I was starting to get a serious case of stage fright."

"You? Really?" Chuck said with surprise before sobering as he continued, "Well that's shocking." She'd never struck him as the type to be anything less than confident.

"How is that shocking? You saw my picture from high school. Did I look like I would enjoy being the center of attention?"

"But the Fiddler never had a spot light. He-" Sarah stopped him with a tilt of her head and a raise of her brow. "-or _she_- is always a silhouette. Or, mostly, at least."

"I'd still be the one playing. That's nerve wracking enough."

"You mean to tell me you've never played alone."

"Oh, I played alone lots of times. I did have to practice you know."

Chuck passed her a bland look. "I meant like solos and stuff."

"Ugh, never tried out for those."

"Then why the sudden interest in being _the_ Fiddler on the Roof?"

Sarah shifted uncomfortably in her seat, knowing where this conversation would lead. "I . . . well, I needed it . . . for a college application."

"Oh." Chuck rubbed his now sweaty palms against his thighs, sensing a heavy turn to their conversation. "Not that I'm saying you aren't smart- I'm quite certain you could've gotten in on your own- but didn't the CIA put you in Yale?"

"Um . . . y-yeah, they did, but- ah, this was . . ." her hands gestured in circles as she thought of the right words, "_before_ they got involved. Yale wasn't even on my radar of possibilities. And I wasn't, exactly, a well-rounded enough student to get into a place like Yale on my own." _Probably not Julliard either._

"Oh. Where were you trying to go then?"

Sarah didn't answer, instead rushing out her own question. "Do you believe in fate, Chuck?"

"I, uh, I don-"

"Because I've been thinking a lot recently that, maybe, we . . ." _No, that's too awkward for me to say._ She wasn't even sure she believed it exactly. She shook her head. "Well, maybe I'd better just show you."

Sarah stood up from the bench and rushed down the hall, leaving Chuck utterly confused and wondering if he should go after her or wait for her to come back. Light from her private room flooded the hall. After a moment's hesitation, he got up from his seat slowly and followed her. He stopped just short of the hallway. "Uh, Sarah," he called out, "am I- am I- should I follow you, or-"

"Yeah, yeah. Come on down here," she said. "I'm just looking for something."

Well, she didn't sound upset. Chuck slowly put one step in front of the other. He wasn't afraid but she always kept that door closed and he never went into the room so he had no idea where to even begin in wondering what was going on. Just as he approached the threshold, Sarah turned from the closet carrying two boxes. The top box had some of his old paintings in it and he could only guess at what was in the bottom one. "Why do you have those?" he asked when she put the boxes on her desk.

Sarah took a preparatory breath. "I took them." She moved the top box off revealing a bunch of family home movies underneath, making Chuck's furrow deepen. Sarah ignored him for a moment, focusing on sifting through the paintings. "At the time, we weren't dating and I wanted to know about these new skills that just happened to miraculously appear. I never knew you painted, hell I never knew you drew, let alone that you were spectacular at it. And the piano thing," she gestured to the videos, "well, I didn't actually think I'd ever get to hear you play but I wanted to." She blushed. "I wanted to know more about you so I took them." She met his eye. "I wasn't going to keep them. I just haven't had a chance to give them back."

Chuck nodded, not quite sure what to say. He had no idea where she was going with this, but he believed she would have given them back.

"Plus," she said, feeling herself becoming more uncomfortable with each passing second. She sighed and shook it off, holding out a tape to him. "I had to make sure I wasn't on this."

Chuck pushed off from the door frame and took a step closer, taking the video from her. "My Julliard audition? Why would you need to see if you were on this?"

"Because of this," she said, passing a portrait to him.

Chuck's eyes widened at the revelation. He hadn't thought about this picture in years. The girl had always been in the back of his mind. From the first note she'd played, he was addicted. He'd wanted more. Everyone else that day before she played, yeah, they were good but she was magical. Over the years, he'd hoped he'd one day hear her again and now, not only was she standing in front of him, she was the woman of his dreams. Literally and figuratively. "Oh my god. You're th- you're the girl. That's why you needed the fiddler. To get into Julliard. What happened? I thought for sure you'd get it. Why didn't you go?"

"My father was arrested by Director Graham that day."

"Oh."

"Yeah. That was also the day I was recruited, so I couldn't."

Chuck nodded and looked back at the drawing. "Wow. This is amazing, Sarah! Who'd have thought, I mean . . . wow!"

"So you don't think I'm crazy for thinking that had we gone to Julliard, we-" she swallowed, gesturing between them, "um, we . . ."

Chuck met her on the other side of the desk, half-sitting half-leaning against it. She looked so nervous. He had no idea why. The idea of them being fated for one another was too cool for words- so much better than dumb luck or just a here and now. Had the shoe been on the other foot though, and he were going to her with this, he would have been nervous, too. Of course, he hadn't thought she believed in things like fate. He smiled and brought up his hand to cup her cheek. "Sarah, I don't know what would have happened between us."

She looked down to her bare feet and prepared for some kind of lecture about how fate wasn't real. That she was delusional. It was fantasy or whatever.

"But I do know that if we had both gone to Julliard I would have loved to have known you. And not just because that to this day, what you played is the most magnificent thing I've ever heard- sometimes if I close my eyes, I can still hear it- but also because I wanted to know you even then. I thought you were so beautiful."

Sarah gave him a distasteful look, knowing she was anything but pretty during those days. "You didn't seem to think so at my reunion," she muttered.

"Reconciling differences, that's all," he said, "I stand by my statement. And I bet, had I've had the opportunity to look longer, I would've figured it out."

"You think so?"

"I do. Might not have told you, but I do," he said while nodding confidently. It'd been years since he thought about the picture, yes, but two and two still make four. "The real question is," he began, his voice ringing with a teasing lilt, "would Jenny Burton have given me the time of day?"

"Oh, I don't know," Sarah teased, running her hands up his chest, wishing he had a tie on that she could play with. Secretly, she hoped he got a job with a tie again so he'd have to wear one all the time. She knew that if he'd paid any attention to her in the least, she'd have crumbled within a week. The desire for human connection had been so heavy at that time. "I think you'd have worn her defenses down. Actually might've been a lot easier then, too."

"Damn." Chuck snapped. "Missed opportunity." He smoothed his hands up and down her sides. "So did you watch the tape then?"

"Umhm."

"And?"

"You were brilliant."

Chuck laughed, hoping to cover his blush. "No, that's not what I meant. Were you on it?"

"Oh," Sarah said, the thought not having occurred to her. "No. No, I wasn't on it."

Chuck nodded, losing himself in thought for a moment. "Strange to think how often our lives could have crossed paths but I'm glad we ended up here."

Sarah laughed and pressed her lips to his. "Me too." There were still a lot of unanswered questions about fate and destiny- what's written in the stars. If she'd met Chuck all those years ago or they'd gone to Julliard, would she have still found her sister? Or would she only have Chuck and his family? She still didn't know if she believed, but whatever choices led her to this moment, to this man, were all worth it. And in any case, if this is what fate looked like- Chuck by her side and a family that loved her- she could certainly get used to it.

Chuck pushed up to his feet and took her hand to lead her out the door. "Alright, let's put some shoes on those sexy feet and meet our respective dates. We're gonna be late."

Sarah laughed. Yes, she could most definitely get used to this.

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Thanks for reading! If you'd like to, I'd love to hear what you think =)


	40. Chapter 40

A/N: Hey, all. Here's a chapter for you. Hope you all had a lovely holiday =)

To everyone, thank you so much for continuing to read and review and favorite and all that goes with it.

To Paladinobr, you are a freaking rock star!

To Dave, thanks for doing a pre-read through.

And to Bill, I bow to your beta wisdom. Thanks for all you do!

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Chapter Forty

Morgan sat at the bar, drowning his sorrows in grape soda. He supposed, if he were cooler, it'd be mixed with something like rum or tequila, but he'd need all his faculties if he were to have any chance at beating Chuck at _Tron_. The last time that happened had been seventh grade. Hell, he might even be up for some air hockey tonight. That's about as athletic as either of them had ever got and he just really felt like hitting something.

"Hey, buddy," Chuck said as he slapped Morgan's shoulder and squeezed.

"Hey, man."

_Wow, he's depressed._ Chuck passed him a sympathetic look and took the bar stool next to him. He knew this feeling well. They hadn't hung out in a while, but they were old friends. "That bad, huh?"

"Nothing hours of mindless video games can't fix," Morgan replied, trying to sound positive.

Chuck nodded at the bartender that'd held up a finger to him before directing his attention back to Morgan. "You know, we could sit here and drown our sorrows in alcohol like the two totally lame nerds we are."

"Totally lame-" Morgan looked at Chuck, shaking his head in disbelief. "Chuck, what can possibly be totally lame about your life? You landed Vicki Vale, you graduated from Stanford- everybody loves you. Seriously, I wanna know what's so bad in your life."

Chuck let out a breath. _Nothing I can really tell ya._ "Well, I'm unemployed, so _keeping_ Vicki Vale could be an issu-" he broke off when Morgan laughed. "What?"

"Nothing."

Chuck put his hand on Morgan's arm. "No, tell me."

Morgan just waved him off. "You've got nothing to worry about, man. Sarah is not going to leave because of money. If that were the case, she'd have left a long time ago. Besides, she doesn't need you to take care of her like that- she's freakishly independent in that way- but in other ways, you're the only one that's capable of helping her."

Chuck nodded. A part of him wanted to delve further into that statement but, ultimately, he was here for Morgan and not for Morgan's insights on his relationship with Sarah, despite his curiosity. He was here to support Morgan through his breakup, and the more they talked about Sarah, the sadder Morgan became. "So, arcade then?" Chuck offered cheerfully, hoping to pump up Morgan a little bit. "Tron's calling my name and your tears."

Morgan laughed as he hopped off his stool, dropping a few bucks down on the counter. "Ha, I am taking you down, buddy boy!"

"Sure, you are," Chuck said as they made their way to the door. "Dinner's on me if you do."

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"Hello," Sarah said cheerily once Eve had picked up her call.

Eve glowered and rolled her eyes. "Ugh, god you're perky. What'd Chuck do now?"

Trisha smirked as slipped her arms into her jacket, flipping her hair over the collar. "Does he have to do anything?" she teased with a knowing glint in her eye. She tried to give Sarah and Eve their time together alone to rebuild what had been lost. Also, call it intuition, but she was fairly certain she made Sarah uncomfortable.

Sarah's cheeks dusted with pink as she gave a bashful shrug. "What can I say? He's wonderful."

"Eh, go spread your cheer elsewhere," Eve said grumpily, but kept it light enough not to be taken too seriously. Hopefully, anyway. Honestly, though, she had no interest in hearing about her sister's perfect boyfriend and her perfect life- _and wow, these walls are getting to me. It's only been two days! How am I going to survive for four weeks?_

"Oh, Eve, relax," Trisha said, "One day you'll feel exactly the same about someone."

"If I don't die first," Eve mumbled.

"That's not funny," Sarah replied reflexively, quick and flat.

"Yes," Trisha agreed firmly, "not funny at all."

Eve looked back and forth between her mother and sister, both wearing shared expressions of shock and horror. _Should've kept that to yourself, Evelyn._ It had been quite a morbid thought, but, all day, she hadn't been able shake this macabre mood. She was tired and trapped and lashing out. It wasn't fair. None of this was fair. At least she had enough forethought to be chastised. She sighed. "Sorry."

Trisha walked to Eve's side, reaching out a hand to brush down her cheek. "We've said before, you're allowed to have your moments, baby girl, but there's no need to be mean. We're all pulling for you, okay?" She looked back at Sarah for a quick moment, fast enough to see that Sarah had the decency to look away. Or mostly away. She was still watching them from the corner of her eye, like she couldn't fully look away even if she wanted to. Trisha kneeled and took Eve's hand, dropping her voice to a whisper. "Listen, I know why you don't want to talk me-"

Eve's eyes turned pained. "Mom-"

"No, its okay," Trisha cut her off kindly, giving a reassuring squeezed to her hand, "I understand and I'm not mad, I promise. But you need to find someone to say these things to, Eve. You can't keep them inside. Sometimes, there is more strength in crying and sharing than buttoning your lips and keeping it to yourself. You want to protect me, and after everything that's happened, I get why."

"I . . ." She didn't know what to say so she left that to hang out there. Her mother was right. Eve didn't want to talk to her about what she was feeling. Hell, she didn't know what to feel, let alone what to say about it.

Trisha's lips quirked in a tiny smile of understanding. "You're the strongest person I know, baby girl. But even the strongest people need help sometimes, too." With a quick lean forward, she brushed her lips across Eve's forehead. "So you be good. And be nice to your sister." She stood, eyes jutting over to Sarah behind the glass and back to Eve. Giving a nod and final squeeze to her daughter's hand, she said, "Love you."

"Love you, too, Mom," Eve said and Trisha turned back from the door with a big smile before disappearing outside.

As Trisha passed Sarah, she trailed her hand across her shoulders, making the young woman look up at her with an expression so eerily close to Eve's that she almost repeated the sentiment. It wasn't that she didn't love Sarah. She did. Because Sarah gave hope to her daughter and their family when Sarah had thought that that meant she'd have to give up everything she'd built, the security blanket she'd surrounded herself with for the last two years. And Trisha knew- or had a very good feeling, at least- that for all Chuck had given Sarah- a family, friends, a sense of worth- Sarah wanted something that was just her own. Eve was _her_ sister. Just hers. The knowledge that Eve had a sister made Trisha's maternal instincts kick in. It was the same feeling she'd had that first day when she and David saw Eve for the first time. She just needed to find a way to make Sarah become more comfortable around her. With a tight lipped smile and nod, she made her way to the cafeteria.

Sarah watched Trisha go, wondering what the woman had figured out in that brief moment of eye contact. The two of them hadn't done a lot of talking since they'd come into each other's lives but something passed between them in that moment. Overhearing the whispered exchange between Trisha and Eve brought out that feeling of deep-seeded longing in Sarah's chest. She doubted, now, that it would ever go away but also wondered if it would've never come had Eve not been found. She sighed and turned back to her sister.

Eve smiled. "She's a hard woman not to like."

"Yeah," she said wistfully. "You're really lucky to have her."

"I am," Eve agreed easily, though she didn't miss the yearning of her sister's expression, the desire in her tone. Something about her mom made Sarah sad and all that joy she'd had when she first sat down had been significantly dimmed. "So what did Chuck do?" she asked, wanting to give Sarah a reason to be bright again. And if the smile making its way across Sarah's face was any indication, it worked.

"He's just . . ." Sarah shook her head, thinking of how to explain it. "Do you ever think about kids?"

Eve snorted derisively. "Pfft, I'm barren, so no. I find it easier not to think about that, thanks." Not that she ever knew for sure if she wanted kids, but now that there was no choice in the matter, it stirred up bitterness and resentment- two things she was not by nature but this whole ordeal had certainly tested her limits, was currently testing them.

"Right." She nodded. _Stupid thing to say._ "Sorry." Learning how to navigate what were landmines with Evie certainly took gentle steps.

_Okay. Harsh again. Take a breath and try this again._ "I'm sorry." She scratched at her forehead underneath her bandana. "What about kids? You've thought about them?"

Sarah quietly assessed Eve through the glass, deciding whether or not to get into it. She wanted to talk to someone about it but it couldn't be Ellie. She'd go all overboard with it and Chuck . . . well, everything was so new and Sarah didn't want to disrupt the status quo at the moment. And when considering she'd run from that conversation last night, well, that just goes to show how _unready_ she was to talk with Chuck about it.

"Its okay, Sarah," Eve said, seeing her hesitance, "I'm not gonna bite your head off."

"You sure?" she asked lightly. "You're certainly in a mood."

Eve smiled and raised three fingers. "Scout's honor." It wasn't as though she could actually _leave_ this room anyway, so biting was out of the question.

Sarah grinned, thinking back when they'd conned people with their- well, Sarah's dad- and pretending to be girl scouts. "Were you ever really a girl scout?"

Eve laughed, knowing exactly what Sarah was thinking about. "I, uh-" she started but then shook her head, "no. But I did do Indian Princesses with my dad. Had camping trips in teepees and everything. It was awesome!"

"Indian Princesses?"

"Yeah. My dad wanted to do it after they adopted me so we could bond as father and daughter."

"Sounds nice."

"It was," she said. "Some of my fondest memories with him."

The conversation fell silent for a beat, and then Sarah said softly, "I'm sorry about your dad."

Eve nodded in response, not ready to delve into that topic quite yet. Instead, she switched back to the original subject. "What got you thinking about kids?"

"Just . . . today," she said with a little laugh. "Chuck suggested that we go swimming to help take the pressure off my back-"

"You're sure it wasn't just to see you in a bikini?"

Sarah laughed. "That could've been it, too." She thought back to the look on his face- bug-eyed and drooling- while she changed, a thoughtful frown forming. "Actually, scratch that. That was definitely part of the plan."

Eve gave a fake groan and dropped her head back to the bed. "Ugh, still a man."

"Yes, he is," Sarah said with a suggestive waggle of her eyebrows.

"Ew," Eve cringed, "Gross, gross, gross. I don't need to know any of that, nor have you put any images of it in my head, thank you."

"Sorry," Sarah said, though she sounded anything but. "Anyway, back on topic. The neighbor's grandkids were there. We were sitting in the pool on these noodle things when they came and started this splash-war amongst themselves. Davey, one of the boys, accidentally splashed Chuck. I swear I've never seen a group of boys stop anything so suddenly. I mean it was dead silent while Chuck turned to face them. Davey's eyes were _huge_ and he started to say, 'I'm sorry, mister.' But somehow Chuck made his noodle shoot water and then they were all playing." She paused, her mind drawing back to images of the afternoon. "It was entertaining, so I decided to join in. And when we- well, the kids- got bored, Michael, he's the youngest, he went to get water guns . . . . It was just a really fun afternoon. Then this moment came. This moment I never thought I'd ever have, where I thought, in ten years, this could be us with our kids. I've never thought that before. Ever. Kids were never one the table for me. I mean, I knew Chuck would be a great dad from literally the first moment I met him, but I was never factored into that equation." She did a quick check up and down the hall. "I thought that I'd be a spy for the rest of my life. That's all I could ever see, but now . . . I don't know. This is all just happening so fast and I feel like I can't keep up with it- all the changing."

Eve watched and waited, wanting to see if Sarah had anything else to add. When she didn't, Eve said, "Kind of like you're on a treadmill and the scenery is changing but no matter how fast you make your legs go, you're still in the same place you were when you started?" But Eve knew that wasn't Sarah. That was her.

"Yeah, kind of."

Eve sucked in a breath. Well that was her life, not Sarah's. "Well, you're not." Off Sarah's look, she clarified, "On a treadmill that is."

"Huh?"

"Uncle Casey told me what you were like when you guys first started working together, about your reputation before," she stated tentatively. Sarah's eyes widened fearfully, but Eve pressed on, knowing that conversation wouldn't take place any time soon. She didn't even know if she ever wanted to have that conversation. "Unless I'm deluding myself with how I remember you when we were younger, the person sitting in front of me now is not that person. You've been with Chuck for what-"

"Two years," Sarah answered, trying to calm the rapid beating of her heart. She couldn't believe it. Casey told Eve about her. How could he? Oh god, Eve knew that she was cold and ruthless, that she'd-

"No. See, that's the type of thinking that's gonna get you into trouble."

"Wha- why?" And why wasn't she going into that other thing? Why was she staying on Chuck?

"Because you thinking you've been with Chuck for two years- which maybe you have, albeit unconventionally- and then seeing things like Ellie and her fiancé getting married and you start thinking that's where you're supposed to be- talking about marriage, building a family- but that's just not the case. You've only truly _been_ with Chuck for a month or so right?" Sarah nodded. "So you can't run at the pace you see other's setting. What's good for them isn't what's good for you. You and Chuck are just working on your pace and finding that rhythm. Don't stress about the other things. Cross those bridges when you get to them. Realizing now that kids are something you would want down the road, builds that bridge for when you're ready to cross it. Just take your time. Enjoy being together."

"Basically, I'm making a mountain out of a mole hill, is what you're saying?"

"Call it what you will but just because you had that thought doesn't mean you _immediately_ have to discuss it with him. Let yourself come to terms with it first. I know relationships are new for you-" _pot calling the kettle black, Evelyn,_ "-but just because you have someone that you trust yourself to be open with doesn't mean you drop everything in one fell swoop."

"I know. I just-"

"Panicked," Eve said with a nod, "I know. Must be something in our blood." Sarah laughed and all Eve could think was, _please_ _don't call me on my hypocrisy._ "You're all out of sorts because Chuck is the real deal for you and as it turns out what you thought you wanted isn't what you wanted at all."

"See, that's the strange thing. I never knew what I wanted. Being a spy- it was just something I could do so what was the point in looking elsewhere? I didn't know I could look elsewhere, let alone that I would want to."

Eve's eyes glittered with question. "Wait, are you quitting?"

Sarah licked her lips. "I . . . yes, I think I will. I can't-" she stopped and met Eve's eyes, taking a breath before continuing, "I want to be around for you and be able to talk to you whenever you want. And I'm not leaving any possibility of loosing Chuck. But I don't know what I'd do. I don't know what else I _can_ do."

"Then that's your next big thing to figure out."

"How?"

Eve gave a sardonic laugh. "I don't have all the answers, Sarah. I'm stuck in limbo myself, if you can't tell. Though I guess mine will be semi-cleared up in three months or so when we really see if this transplant worked or not. Crossing my fingers that I get to live that long."

Sarah grimaced at her words. Unfortunately, it was a very real possibility that it wouldn't work and she couldn't begrudge Eve the opportunity to talk about it. Trisha was right. Eve needed an outlet and as much as it pained her, Sarah was willing to be it. "What'll you do when everything works out?"

_Ah, the joy of believing in when . . . _She'd stopped thinking in terms of if and when, holding on to the here and now. Because, right now, everything was as perfect as it could be. The potential for more gave her hope- a hope that she feared would shred to bits if she changed anything at the moment. Eve smiled a little. "Well, if he sticks around, I'm gonna dive right in to what'll hopefully amount to magic."

"With Ethan?"

"Mhm."

"And that doesn't freak you out?"

"Oh no, it absolutely terrifies me," she said seriously. "But he gave me something to live for and just because I don't want to tell him about it now doesn't mean that I don't want it. I do. I just refuse to let him get his hopes up too high, you know? Just in case. He makes me happy and after everything, I think I deserve that. So I'm going to force myself to do it. All kinds of change, even the good ones, require adjustments."

Sarah gave her a smile filled with admiration. "You're fearless."

Eve shrugged, "Dying offers certain amount perspective."

"Evie-" Okay, maybe she wasn't as ready as she thought. _Suck it up, Walker, you're gonna have to be._

"Sorry," she said, raising her hands in surrender. "I guess I am in a mood. You're just figuratively stuck and I'm literally stuck and it really sucks. At least before the transplant, I could go outside. I'm just mad that I have to be here. I'm mad that this happened at all. I wish things were different. I wish things weren't so . . . awful."

Sarah nodded her head, wishing she had words to sooth Eve's pain. "Well, I'm definitely nowhere near as eloquent as you but if you wanna talk, or yell, or scream . . . I can take it."

Eve narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "You heard my mom, didn't you?"

"Maybe. But that doesn't make it any less true."

Eve gave her a nod and smiled. "Thanks."

"You're welcome."

..-. .- - .. .-.. -.- - .- - - . .-. … … - - .-.

"Ha ha, yes!" Morgan cheered, rubbing his hands together. "That's what I'm talking about!"

Chuck stared at the screen, astonished. "I can't believe you beat me," he muttered, "I owe you dinner. How did this happen?"

"Well, I'll tell ya," Morgan said, clapping Chuck's shoulder, "You wagered food and this guy," he pointed to himself with his thumbs, "is motivated by good grub."

Chuck stared at the screen for a moment longer and then turned to Morgan. "Two out of three?"

"Not a chance," Morgan said, walking down the row of games. "Let's eat."

"Please?" Chuck said, rushing to catch him. This couldn't be right. Morgan- _Morgan_!- had beaten him at Tron.

The plea did nothing to break Morgan's stride. "Dinner first."

"That defeats the purpose."

Morgan shouldered the door until it was open just a crack and turned to look at Chuck. "Yep," he said, popping the 'p' haughtily.

Chuck's shoulders sagged. "Fine! You win." He caught up to Morgan, pushing past him through the door. He dodged a few people on the street, not wanting to run them over. Most of this had been for show. He wasn't really mad at Morgan. Though he hadn't let Morgan win, he'd been considering it. But now that he knew it wouldn't have mattered, his pride was a little wounded.

After a moment spent in surprise from Chuck's move, Morgan had to jog to catch up with Chuck's long strides. He laughed at Chuck's crestfallen face. "Yeah, that's right. I did!"

Chuck narrowed his eyes at Morgan. "You know, of the two of us, you're the one with the job. Shouldn't you be offering to buy me dinner?"

"Sorry, that's the rules. You made the bet," Morgan said. "Anyway, no one told you to quit." Chuck only nodded in response. "So, there's really no chance for you to go back, huh? You're really done with the Buy More for good?"

Chuck nodded. "I really am."

"Good for you, you Stanford Grad, you," Morgan said proudly. "They're really gonna miss us there. Big Mike's gonna have a fit-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Chuck said, stopping Morgan with a hand to his arm. "Just because I quit doesn't mean you have to, too."

"I know," Morgan said, resuming their trek to the bar and grill, though at a more subdued pace. They always went to the same place after playing at the arcade. Plus, it was fairly inexpensive and Morgan wouldn't be that mean to Chuck and make him pay for some fine cuisine. Not over a stupid bet on a video game anyway. "It's just . . . all this stuff with Anna got me thinking, you know, about the things I want. She said she couldn't be with someone who just meandered through life, that I have no direction or ambition and I need to grow up." He shoved his hands deep into his pockets, curling his shoulders in as if protecting himself from the memory. Anna had really let him have it. "She's right."

"Morgan-"

"She is, Chuck," Morgan said, cutting off his protest. "I'm the guy that eats the mystery crisper. I work at the Buy More because it requires _no_ work, in fact I'm an expert at getting out of it. And I live with my mother who is banging my boss. I can't take it!"

Chuck's brow furrowed, taken aback. "What are you saying?"

"I'm saying I need a change."

"Okay," Chuck nodded unsurely. "What exactly does that entail?"

"I'm gonna move," he said and Chuck's jaw dropped, "to Hawaii."

His eyes widened incredulously. "What?"

"Yeah," Morgan said, happily, excited to tell his best friend his good news. "I'm going to become a benihana chef."

Chuck tried, he really tried not to, but a small laugh passed through his lips. He couldn't help it. Morgan couldn't work a saw in woodshop. How did he expect to flip knives around? "Seriously?"

Morgan glared at him. "Yes, seriously. I already signed up for classes and everything."

Chuck cleared his throat. "Sorry. It's just . . . why Hawaii? That's so far away." They stopped at the corner, waiting for the light to change so they could cross. "I mean, who am I gonna go to the arcade with? Who am I going to watch stupid samurai movies with? Who am I gonna nerd out with and talk about what sandwiches to take to a desert island?" He shrugged. "You're my best friend, Morgan. I'm gonna miss you."

Morgan smiled, glad to have the reaffirmation of his status in Chuck's life. "You're gonna be so busy with Sarah, you won't have time to miss me," he said. "But, hey, if you need a vacation, where better than a tropical island with those fruity umbrella drinks?"

"Sand and sun with my best friend to boot? I'm there . . . as soon as I can pay for it, that is."

"'Course." The light changed and they crossed the last block, when Chuck suddenly stopped and had to do a double take . . .

..-. .- - .. .-.. -.- - .- - - . .-. … … - - .-.

Sarah walked into the bar, searching around at the doorway for her party. The place wasn't anything special. In fact, if not for the spectacular view of the beach, she would've written it off as just another bar. The stage was set for the live band to play, though no one stood upon it yet. There were quite a few patrons milling around, eating food and buying drinks, but so far, the party had yet to start. She looked at her watch. Just nearing eight o'clock. By party standards, it was still early. Not seeing anyone inside, Sarah started to make her way to the patio. Knowing Carina, it's where she'd be anyway.

She had not been home for more than ten minutes when Carina had texted her, asking if she wanted to go for drinks. Tonight would be Carina's last night in town and the two had yet to catch up. They'd spoken a few times about work related things, but Sarah was beginning to see how nice it was to have a friend to talk to where there weren't any big expectations looming over the conversation. Recently, all her exchanges had taken a more reserved approach. She had to tread carefully with Evie since that relationship was just rebuilding its foundation. As improved as things had become with Ellie, Sarah still felt the need to be at least somewhat cautious. She didn't want to say anything that would have Ellie doubting her intentions again. The easiest one- which used to be the most difficult- was Chuck but he was busy with Morgan. And that pretty much summed up the list, sadly- but at any rate, better than it used to be.

Sarah paused outside the door, taking a moment to enjoy the view. The sky was painted a brilliant array of reds and oranges as the sun sunk lower in the sky like it were being swallowed by the sea. A seagull swooped towards the water, its wings lightly grazing the surface of the water before it dipped, trying for a fish. For as busy as the city was, there were these moments of peace that made you want to stay. Perhaps that was just an effect of the beach.

"Walker, you made it."

Sarah turned at her name and smiled. "Hey," she said, easily accepting the embrace Carina offered. She dropped her voice to a whisper, "Isn't this much nicer than trying to get the drop on me?"

Carina pulled back. "Ha! As if I ever have."

"You almost managed it last time."

"Suburbia's just made you soft." Sarah rolled her eyes in annoyance but said nothing. She wasn't that soft, even if she'd thought more of quitting recently than continuing with the CIA. Carina, realizing she wouldn't take the bait, led Sarah inside the bar, more than a few eyes tracking their departure. "Come on. Let's hear about all the 'exciting' stuff happening."

The way she said it, the dripping sarcasm that even if it weren't there, would have alerted Sarah that Carina thought this current assignment was anything but exciting. Sarah would argue that it was exciting, just in a different way. When she really thought about it, Sarah noticed she'd spent most of her life running from something or someone and she was tired. On the road, bopping around to different cities, assuming new identities, always watching for danger, always alert, always suspicious- it takes its toll on a person. She just didn't want to do that anymore or go on any deep cover missions. It had lost its appeal.

In the time Sarah had gone outside in search of Carina and for them to come back inside, the crowd had grown immensely. Carina slid into a booth behind a VIP rope and waited for Sarah to settle across from her, noticing the wince Sarah'd tired to hide while she did so. They'd get to that later. "So, you sick of this place yet? Ready for a real mission?"

Sarah decided to play ignorant. "I don't know, Carina. You seem to be in a position much like I am."

Carina smirked. "Not even. My mission is nearly finished, thank god. Last stop on this stupid tour is Portland. That's where the final strike will take place and another drug and arms ring will be taken down. And then I can finally 'break up' with the music man." She glanced over to Gavin's manager, chatting wildly on the phone. "He's getting antsy but he doesn't suspect me. Much as it pains me to admit, I've let others take the glory on some of the raids just to keep it that way." Miguel's voice rose drawing both agent's attention before he realized where he was and dropped his voice again. Apparently the conversation wasn't going too well. "I'm gonna love putting that bastard in his place." She waited for Sarah to respond with a 'me too' or something of the like, but when none came, Carina narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "What's up with you?"

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know." She tilted her head contemplatively. "You seem different." The bartender looked their way and Carina held up two fingers, receiving a nod in acknowledgement.

"Different?"

"Don't get smart with me, Walker; you're all glowy, it's disgusting," she said with disdain. "And not only that, you're walking like you'd rather be in anything other than heels."

Sarah loved spending time around Carina. She was carefree and wild and had an aura of confidence surrounding her regardless of circumstances. Sarah always admired that trait, had gravitated toward it when they first met. There were downfalls, though, like her constant affinity for putting them in more trouble than absolutely necessary with the frequent improvising. Also, being around Carina brought out this slow, burning need to compete and prove that she could keep up. So, after a night of _unbelievably_ satisfying sex, followed by a day of spontaneously running around, playing with children on top of having had surgery just a few days before, of course Carina would choose _this_ day to have time to catch up. Sarah'd given herself a ten minute spy make-over, changing out her shirt for a fancier blouse (the one Chuck liked so much and said made her eyes look like sapphires) and added a touch more makeup. She would admit- if only to herself- that Ellie had been right. She'd overdone it today and, now, everything felt tight and stiff and sore. The chair outside Eve's room did nothing to ease the pain, yet she still slipped into the pair of modest heels over the flats, teased her hair some before rushing out to meet up with her friend all in the name of competition. She prayed Carina wouldn't want to dance tonight. "You noticed that, huh?"

The bartender came over to the table, quietly handing over their drinks with a smile and nod before walking away. It appeared Carina had already ordered once before and so now in front of them both sat a vodka cranberry.

"Your wince when you sat down kinda gave it away." Carina furrowed her brow as she studied Sarah with a critical eye, thinking of any reason Sarah would have to change while she stirred her drink. "Something happen with the nerd?"

Sarah froze, every muscle clenching tightly. Was it that obvious? Knowing she'd been had, she looked to her lap to hide her blush, biting her lip apprehensively as she thought of a way out. She wasn't ashamed by any means, but these conversations still made her uncomfortable and that beverage was just asking to be knocked back so her inhibitions would loosen.

Carina's eyes widened in shock, her glass meeting the table with a ping. "Something _totally_ happened with the nerd." She sat back, folding her arms across her chest. "Oh, now you gotta tell me."

Sarah put her elbows on the table and buried her face in her hands. "Oh my god," she muttered to herself before resting her hands on the table, leveling her gaze on the entirely too proud Carina. "Yes, something happened. We're sort of- well, not sort of. We're actually together."

"Like together, together?"

"Mhm."

"Secretly or-"

"No, no. The whole team knows. Beckman approved it and everything."

"Huh." She paused. "How'd you manage that?"

"It's a long story." Carina raised a brow, imploring Sarah to continue. Now she really wanted that drink. "Chuck kind of . . . asked."

When Sarah didn't say anything more, Carina's chin dropped slightly towards her chest, "That's your long story?"

Sarah's shoulders dropped and she rolled her eyes while elaborating, "They went to the Governor's Ball a few weeks ago and . . . I don't know. He must have felt comfortable enough to say something."

"My, my," she said suggestively, reaching for her glass, "Chuckles' got some balls after all."

A flare sparked in Sarah's belly and she pointed a finger threateningly at Carina. "You lay one finger on him and I swear to god, Carina-"

"Uh, whoa, calm down, Jealous Janet," she said, pushing down Sarah's hand, "I like taking what you want, not what you have."

"I am not jealous," she insisted heatedly. She realized, after, that saying it in such a way just made her sound all the more jealous. "I'm possessive. They're different."

Carina took a sip before she dismissed Sarah's attempt at justification, "Whatever makes it easier. Besides, no one has a chance in hell of giving him wandering eyes." Sarah's lips twitched in pleasure at that and Carina all but barfed right then and there, another thought entering her conscience. Before the green monster could rise again, Carina said, "For the love of god, please don't tell me you're pregnant."

She stared at Carina in stupefied horror, completely shell-shocked. "Excuse me?" Yes, the realization that she wanted kids had come, but not now. So far from now. _Way_ off into the distance from now. And Carina would not be the person to talk to about this.

"Well, I don't know," Carina frowned. "Like I said, you're all glowy –still disgusting, by the way- and you've yet to touch your drink. Any time you've ever talked about anything even remotely personal you've always had a couple drinks in you. So either your hormones-"

"Okay, okay. Just . . ." Sarah held out her hand, "stop. I'm not pregnant."

"Thank god for that," Carina muttered.

"Yeah," she agreed emphatically. "And I haven't touched my drink because I can't. I had surgery a couple days ago and I'm still taking the pain medication. Mixing alcohol with those is not a good plan, especially since I still have to drive home. So, no, I am definitely- _definitely_- not pregnant."

"Oh, my bad," she said casually, then let a teasing mischievousness touch her tone, "and here I was thinking you were walking funny because you finally had a good fuck."

Sarah rolled her eyes at Carina's tone and then smiled smugly. "Had that too. Chuck needs no help in that department."

Carina almost choked in surprise. "Well, now I'm disappointed he turned me down last year."

"Hey-"

"Yeah, yeah," Carina said, waving her hand to cut Sarah off. "Possessive, my ass. I'd hate to see you on a mission if he ever had to seduce anyone."

"Well, luckily you won't have to find out." _Because I already know and it's not pretty and you do not need any more ammo._

Carina traded her empty glass for Sarah's full one, not wanting it to go to waste. "So, why'd you have surgery anyway? Something happen on a mission?" She tried to sound indifferent but Sarah caught the underlying concern.

"Well," she sighed and fiddled with the napkin under the glass in front of her, "My sister is sick. She has leukemia and . . . well, let's just say it's like Singapore only with cancer instead of mercenaries."

Carina's jaw dropped, both at the news that Sarah had a sister and that this sister was severely ill. She had to be for Sarah to compare it to Singapore. If Sarah hadn't come for her then, Carina would not be sitting here today. "That's bad."

"Yeah, it is," Sarah said sadly. "I donated my bone marrow to her and now we're waiting to see if it'll take. It's pretty much a last ditch effort."

"Okay," she said, nodding. She never knew what to say in these circumstances aside from anything noncommittal. "So are you on leave, then? What did Beckman say?"

"Technically, the team's been on leave for a couple months."

"And you're not going crazy? What happened to the days when you could hardly sit still between missions?"

Sarah shrugged awkwardly and played with a drop of condensation on the glass. "Chuck happened, I guess."

Carina rolled her eyes and groaned. _Walker lovesick is something I never thought I'd see._

"He taught me to breathe." Unbidden, a smile lit up her face and brightened her eyes, "Its like all this stuff I've felt baring down on my chest is just . . ." she trailed off, wishing she knew how to explain it and say it in a way Carina would understand. She couldn't say gone because it wasn't and lighter seemed too vague.

"Sucker," she said, head shaking.

Sarah narrowed her eyes. "Thanks, Casey."

Carina shrugged unaffected. Her eyes focused on a point beyond Sarah. "Don't look now, but your boyfriend is behind you."

"What?" Sarah craned her neck to the window behind her. Sure enough, Chuck and Morgan were stopped at the corner across the street. She knew they were playing at the arcade on the pier, but how did he know she was here? She had texted him to let him know she was going out with Carina, but he didn't know where. Halfway through the intersection, his jaw dropped when he saw her. She smiled and waved. He returned the gesture and hurried Morgan the rest of the way. He held up a finger to her and she nodded before she turned back to Carina.

"Still hangs out with Martin, I see."

"It's Morgan."

She shrugged, "Eh, Martin, Morgan. What's the difference?"

"Be nice," Sarah chided, "He just broke up with his girlfriend."

"He had a girlfriend?" she said shocked, as if the idea was unfathomable and Sarah rolled her eyes. "Well, he is more attractive with the shorter hair, I'll give him that."

Sarah just glared at her since the boys should be close to the table. It wasn't until she felt a presence against the banister blocking the VIP section from the rest of the crowd that she stopped and looked over to find Chuck standing there. The bar hit him just under his pec-line. She loved how tall he was- easily one of her favorite things.

"Hey, baby," Chuck said with a smile that Sarah returned as she leaned sideways to give him a quick-ish peck. He frowned into when he noticed her stiff movement. "Are you okay?" he asked as the kiss broke. His eyes flicked to Carina and he lowered his voice. "Did you take your medicine?" Then he pointed to the glass. "That's not alcohol, is it?"

"I didn't drink it," she promised, "and no, I haven't. I forgot before I left home."

"Saraah," he said, drawing out the name in exasperation. "Just a second." And then he was gone. She watched him head for the bar, immediately gain the attention of one of the tenders. When the barkeep nodded and left, presumably to get whatever it was he ordered, Chuck turned to the two women next to him and struck up a conversation. Sarah frowned, but he wasn't leaning towards them, so obviously he wasn't flirting.

"Home?" Carina questioned, making Sarah's attention turn back before she could think any more about what Chuck was doing at the bar.

"Well, yeah. We live together."

"Yeah, but you've always referred to these things as _the_ hotel or _the_ apartment, and so on. Home is . . . personal."

Sarah just shrugged in reply and then Chuck was back again, two drinks in hand. "Here you go, ladies. Vodka cranberry for you," he set the drink in front of Carina, "and an Arnold Palmer for you. Aand," he uncurled his palm, "Ibuprofen." Sarah and Carina shared a glance and Sarah took the medicine. Carina was impressed he'd known what she'd been drinking. He hadn't spoken to the same bartender as before. With both ladies seemingly pleased, Chuck smiled. "I also ordered you guys some hot wings. Trust me, they're delish. They should be here any minute now."

"Where's Morgan?" Sarah asked, realizing his constant shadow was nowhere to be seen.

"He's getting us a table since they're getting pretty crowded. We're just stopping by to eat before hitting a different arcade. He beat me at Tron. Can you believe it? That never happens."

Sarah gave an equal parts amused and confused shake of her head. _Isn't Tron a movie?_

Chuck looked at Carina. "He says 'hi,' by the way."

"Ah." Carina searched the room and found him at the other side watching them. She lifted her glass in response and Morgan waved back all too excitedly. Carina shook her head and took a sip, focusing all her attention on the drink instead of the two lovebirds across from her.

Chuck looked up at the approaching waiter. He always liked the quick service here but something tells him, since he'd ordered for the VIP section, that time was cut even shorter. "Well, I should get back before Morgan orders me some strange, complicated thing that makes them wanna spit in my food. So-" Boldly, and with blatant disregard to Carina's presence, he jumped up, bracing all his weight against his arms on the banister so Sarah wouldn't have to move as much. He bent down and gave Sarah a nice long goodbye kiss, successfully staking his claim. A small peck just wouldn't do. He'd noticed people making eyes over at this table. Carina, he didn't so much care about- she probably loved it anyway- but Sarah, he did. Not that he worried something would happen, but just so everyone knew she was taken. Happily taken.

Surprised, Sarah resisted the urge to moan at his forthrightness. She'd never live it down if Carina heard that. It was almost like the Roan kiss all over again. She'd been caught totally unaware by the audacious move. She loved it when he took command. It demanded all her attention, made her completely forget about where they were and who might be watching. But then, maybe that was the point? That had to be it. He was proving a point. She'd noticed the stares, too. Ignored them, but noticed. Even knowing what he was doing, she couldn't be bothered to make herself care. If anything, it made her put more into it. Guess they're both a little possessive.

He held out as long as he could before he couldn't hold himself up anymore. Dropping back to the ground, he saw Sarah flush and swallow while trying to compose herself or find a reasonable excuse to take him somewhere. He drummed his fingers against the banister happily. "Well, I'll leave you ladies to it. Carina, lovely as always. Don't have too much fun." He blew one final kiss to Sarah and weaved his way over to Morgan.

Carina shook her head in mild contempt. She'd seen Walker play tonsil hockey on more that one occasion but it never looked like that and _that_ had only been PG at best. Now she really was disappointed that Chuck turned her down. _Nerds and their loyalty . . . _"That is one nerdy boyfriend you have there, Walker."

"Yeah, so?" she said, still a little breathless. She tracked Chuck through the crowd while twirling straw around the glass dreamily. _God, could the man kiss . . ._

"Just saying." Carina reached into the basket, grabbing a hot wing for herself. She loved hot wings. The spicier the better in her book and these were just enough to make her moan. "Mmm, okay, so the man's got some skills," she conceded, licking the fingers of her right hand.

Sarah smiled suggestively, never taking her eyes off Chuck as he sat across from Morgan. "Oh, you have no idea."

Carina looked up from her hot wing to find Sarah and Chuck making eyes at each other, little smiles popping out here and there. As a reflex, her eyes rolled. She finished the wing put the bone down on her plate before going for another wing. "Quit it with the eye sex," she grumbled, "You're making me gag."

..-. .- - .. .-.. -.- - .- - - . .-. … … - - .-.

A/N2: That's all for now. I hope you liked it and that none of you found Eve to be too mean. If you've got a chance, I'd love to hear what you think =)


	41. Chapter 41

Hello, everyone.

So this would not have gotten done without the help of one BDaddyDL. He was a superstar in helping me out with some writer's block and getting this chapter to mesh and go where it needed to. He also convinced me to join twitter. I'm under his twitterlage! Ha ha! See what I did there? :p

Also, a big thank you to aerox2109 who participated in the writer's sprints that helped push this forward. And to Tenks7 for looking over the Carina part.

As always a HUGE thank you to billatwork for all his beta awesomeness! He is wonderful! Couldn't do this without him.

And to all of you, your patience astounds me! I thank you for continuing to read and review and everything in between. Thank you so much!

..-. .- - .. .-.. -.- - .- - - . .-. … … - - .-.

Chapter Forty-One

Soft laughter permeated Chuck's awakening haze. He stretched languidly, reaching out to Sarah's side of the bed. When his hand connected with cooling sheets, his eyes opened in slits against the morning sun streaming through the window. Sarah wasn't there. Chuck yawned and rubbed at his eyes, raising himself on an elbow. He glanced around the room, brow furrowed in concentration as he listened for a sign of her whereabouts.

Muffled laughter drifted up the hall again.

Chuck pulled back the covers and lifted himself from bed to follow the quiet sound. With careful steps, he made his way down the hall, not looking to spy- who was he kidding? Spy on Sarah? _Highly_ unlikely- he simply enjoyed the unrestrained sound. Half way down the hall, he heard his name and stopped.

"So, about Chuck-"

_Carina? What's she doing here? Had she stayed the night?_ Sounds of dishes clanking around the stove, then a cracking sound followed by a sizzle let him know Sarah was cooking. His stomach growled as his brain finally registered the aromas wafting his way. _Mmm, bacon. Ooo, maybe she was making omelets. Delicious!_

"-you've really settled into this domestic thing, huh? Wearing his shirts, fixing him breakfast-"

He couldn't quite place the lilt to Carina's tone, whether she was disbelieving or teasing, but Sarah cut her off before he could think on it too much.

"You make it sound like I'm playing house."

That had definitely been said with a frown, which made him smile.

"Are you?"

"Absolutely not," she answered quickly. If Chuck had merely been smiling before, he was positively beaming now. She could've hidden the way things were with him; she could've downplayed their relationship; she could've done lots of things besides acknowledge the way things actually were with them. The fact she hadn't had pride swelling up in his chest. He felt like the most important person in the world- especially with it being Carina Sarah was speaking to, considering they were both spies and all. "He made breakfast yesterday. It's my turn today. We're all about equality here. And besides, I'm making breakfast for all of us, not just him."

"How very Martha Stewart." The short chortle Sarah let out made Carina's brow furrow. It hadn't been funny enough to warrant a laugh, even that miniscule of one. She'd only been pestering Sarah to get a rise out of her. "What?"

"Nothing. Chuck sort of said something similar after I made him breakfast the first time."

"Ugh, don't tell me that," Carina complained, "The last thing I wanna know is that I have something in common with the nerd."

Chuck rolled his eyes. _Always with the nerd . . . . _Though he could feel her irritation radiating from here, he figured Sarah would let that go. Carina was only being Carina after all. But she didn't.

"You know, Carina, I'm getting a little tired of you saying 'nerd' as if it's some kind of cuss word. He's proud of it, and I am, too. He's the most amazing and incredible person I know. And for reasons I cannot fathom, he wants to be with me. Plus, that man can do things in bed . . ."

Chuck heard her let out a quiet moan and blushed profusely. Bam! What guy doesn't want to hear that they rock their lady's world? He must be so-o red right now but he didn't freaking care. Sarah Walker bragged to her friends! About him. _Him!_ Boo-yah! It's like a badge of honor and he'd wear it proudly.

Carina's voice lowered for only Sarah to hear. "You know he's in the hallway listening right now, don't you?"

"Yes," Sarah admitted with a smile, lowering her voice to match Carina's. "Doesn't change the fact that it's true, though."

Carina smirked and went back to a normal tone. "Well, well, Walker. Who knew you had it in you?"

Chuck frowned. Obviously there'd been something he missed and he wondered what it'd been. The scratch of a plate sliding across the counter returned his attention back to kitchen.

"Just eat your food, Carina."

Chuck kind of liked this whole 'listening in' thing. He might actually get away with it, barring either woman leaving for the bathroom or the floorboards creaking. It had been quite revealing. No wonder people eavesdropped. It was enlightening. There was some muted clanking of utensil meeting plate, and then a moan.

"God, Walker, I forgot how well you made these!"

"Ah ha!" Sarah exclaimed and Chuck knew she had that smug sparkle in her eye, "so now you appreciate my Martha Stewartiness."

"Mm hm," she muttered around her food, "so much better than all those damn diners we've been stopping at. I swear I've gained ten pounds just by walking in there. It takes _three_ times the workouts just to keep in shape."

"Yeah, I can imagine which workouts you increased," Sarah deadpanned.

"Just the fun one."

Chuck didn't even have to stand in the room to know which facial expression had been coupled with that statement- a saucy smirk and temptressy eyes to perfect complement the breathy note in her voice.

"Gavin's a willing participant."

Chuck involuntarily gagged at that.

"I'm sure he is," Sarah said flatly as she turned on the faucet. "Just don't forget to breathe between bites. You should at least taste it." The water stopped and a beat of silence passed before she spoke again. "I'll get Chuck."

"No need." Carina lifted her glass off the counter and took a sip. "He's up the hallway."

Chuck threw his hands up. Damn! How do they always know? He sheepishly toed into the kitchen, his cheeks flushed with embarrassment. Sarah watched him with amusement, hiding a smile behind her coffee mug while offering him one of his own. He gratefully took the cup, using it to swallow his pride and hoping neither woman commented on his snooping. Except when the scorching liquid hit his throat, he choked. "Kahuugh," he forced it down his esophagus with two gulps of air. "Th's- hot coffee."

Sarah pressed her lips together, not quite able to hold back her smile as she remembered the last time he'd done that and what she'd said before he'd done it. So many naughty responses she could give him now. All highly inappropriate comments to be said in front of Carina- not that Carina would mind or anything. The look she shared with Chuck made him stiffen and turn even redder. Message received. Apparently he remembered that just as well as she had.

Carina leaned toward him with a teasing smirk. "Mornin' Chuckles," she said in that not-quite-but-could-possibly-be-seductive way she had.

Chuck raised his mug and nodded awkwardly. "Mornin'," he said and stepped closer to Sarah, seeking refuge from Carina's flirtation. Sarah grinned up at him as she wrapped her free arm around his waist. He smiled back, exchanging their morning greeting silently. Sarah tucked herself under his chin and he bent down to press his lips against the crown of her head. His limit to PDA had been met last night when he'd staked his claim. He felt lucky enough to have gotten away with that so there would be no pushing it today, even if Sarah had appeared to have enjoyed it. Giving nothing away to Carina as she sipped her coffee, Sarah fiddled with the hem of his shirt, lifting it just enough to get to his skin and lightly scratch her nails against his lower back. Chuck shivered and then froze when her fingertips slipped beneath the waistband of his pants. Clearly he wouldn't be any safer from embarrassment over here with Sarah than he'd been talking to Carina. He took another swallow of coffee, passing her a look that practically screamed for her to stop. Feeling his stare, Sarah tilted her head back, giving him an equally innocent yet entirely too devious look.

Carina fought every instinct to roll her eyes at the pair and groaned, "I'd like a bowl of vodka, please."

"That's excessive," Chuck muttered as Sarah asked, "Why?"

"Because at least then I'd appreciate what was making me gag." She gestured back and for between Chuck and Sarah. Despite their ability to communicate without words being completely adorable and despite the fact she was genuinely happy for her friend, this little lovefest was seriously testing her gag reflexes. Again.

Sarah rolled her eyes. "Oh, shut up," she said, a feeble attempt to cover her rapidly reddening cheeks. Thankfully, the toast popped, offering a change of subject. She gave Chuck one final squeeze before letting go. "Hope you're hungry," she said to Chuck, "There's plenty."

"Starved." Chuck walked to the counter, picking up one of the untouched plates. Sarah had outdone herself. Omelets, bacon, toast . . . yummm. "Mmm, looks delicious." He reached for a fork and worked on cutting his omelet into pieces as he settled into the corner of the counter. He wanted to keep a barrier between Carina and him, even if it meant eating standing up. When he looked up, though, and saw her making eyes at him, he realized it won't matter. Being across from her just made it so he could see all the smirks and teasing glances, watch her take her sadistic pleasure in making him squirm. That woman. Chuck studiously focused on his food, which wasn't too hard since Sarah made a fantastic breakfast. He took a bite and his eyelashes fluttered shut at the taste. Bliss. Devine bliss.

"I know, right?" Carina said, not even trying to disagree as she dropped all pretenses of flirtation. "Sarah always had breakfast duty with the CATs. I'd forgotten how much I missed it."

Chuck's brow furrowed as he choked around his bite, the flash taking him by surprise. His fork clanked loudly against the plate but he considered himself lucky not to have dropped it. He really couldn't wait for this to be gone. With not having flashed as much recently, he'd foolishly stopped preparing himself for them to come. And that one crept up on him like a lion hunting a gazelle. He should've been more prepared with Carina being around. Something was bound to make him flash with her. It just so happened to be about Sarah's old team. Lots of information in that one they needed to talk about. He remembered her mentioning being on another team before but she hadn't gone into much detail.

Carina's brow furrowed as she watched Chuck try to discreetly regain his composure. "Are you all right?"

Chuck shook his head and cleared his throat. "Uh, yeah- yeah," he said, waving off her concern as he picked up the fork again, cutting of a piece of egg. "Um, Morgan and I had a lot to drink last night and th- the light from the . . . window," he pointed to it with his fork, "took me, uh, by surprise." He lifted up his plate and pointed to his food. "But, this'll fix me right up." He cut off a big piece and took a bite. It wasn't technically lying. They had had a bunch to drink, just not to drunk proportions. Tipsy, though. Very tipsy.

Carina eyed him suspiciously. Perhaps he had some kind of neurological problem he didn't want her knowing about. He'd done that same thing with his eyes the last time she'd been here and all night at the Governor's ball, too. She could only hope that Sarah knew about it. Guess you can't help who you fall in love with. _Oh, god, I need to get out of here._ "Hey, Walker, do you still have that knife I gave you last night? I've got to be heading out."

"Uh, okay. I'll go check." She lifted up to her tiptoes and gave Chuck a peck before she disappeared down the hall, a slight spring to her step.

"Wow, she's really happy," Carina noted.

"I certainly hope so," Chuck said, smiling as he watched her go. If he made her as happy as she made him, they'd do just fine. He put down his plate and reached across the kitchen to where he'd left his coffee. "So why'd you give Sarah-"

Carina waited for him to get closer, ignoring his attempt at conversation as she shot up from her seat and yanked him over the counter by his shirt collar. "Listen up, Bartowski," she whispered harshly, leveling him with hard eyes, "she's giving up a lot for you here, so I'm only gonna tell you this once: you break her heart and I will rip off your testicles, shove them down your throat, dice up your dick like a hot dog and feed it to a frothing, _starved_ rottweiler just to give him real good taste before sickin' him on you to finish the job- ya got me?" Chuck's wide, fearful eyes, dropped jaw and tensed shoulders, made her smile.

He instinctively did a half-morgan. "Th- that's specific," he gulped, completely petrified by her ability to go from sweet- or, at least, her version of it- to psycho in zero-point-nothing seconds. _Do they have a class for that somewhere? _"F righteningly . . . specific."

She smirked and reached out to smack his cheek twice. "Glad we understand each other. Just don't forget it."

He shook his head wildly, searching for some kind of response but Sarah was back before he could reply.

"Here you go," she said, coming up behind them. "Sorry. I thought I'd given it back you after we left."

Carina smiled. Sarah had given it back to her, she'd just put it back in Sarah's bag on the way back to the apartment so she'd be able to have a moment with Chuck this morning. She merely wanted to protect her friend's best interests so last night, she'd pretended her thigh holster had given her issues and Sarah offered to put it in her bag. Well played. Carina picked up her bag and met Sarah around the counter, giving Chuck enough time to compose himself. Hopefully, anyway. Neurological problems aside, though, the man could think on his feet. "Not a problem." She threw the knife in her bag and leaned in to give Sarah a hug. "Well, it's been real, it's been fun, but it hasn't been real fun."

Sarah gave a small laugh. "Oh, please, you love coming here," she said, stepping back from the embrace to walk Carina to the door.

"Ohh, you caught me," she said flatly, "Game nights and barbeques are exactly what my life is missing." Carina swung open the door, looking back to Chuck, who'd followed them into the living room. She smiled. "Chuck, always a pleasure."

He waved clumsily. "Bye," he said monotonously, thankful for every step Carina took away from him.

"Ugh," Sarah groaned as she closed the, twisting the deadbolt for good measure, "she's . . . exhausting- the woman is exhausting."

Chuck grinned, watching her slouched figure shuffle closer to him. "But you had fun, right?"

"Fun and Carina are relative. It just depends on what you count as _fun_," Sarah said as she snaked her arms around his neck, relishing in the comfort of his embrace.

"Yeah, she sure is a fire-cracker, that one." Chuck made a face, remembering Carina's threat to him. He'd rather _not_ remember it, but it was kind of hard to forget your man parts being threatened with dismemberment. Carina would probably see that as fun; he, however, would not. He gave a small shake of his head, attempting to clear away the memory. Meeting Sarah's gaze- the best way to dissolve its lingering hold- he brushed back her bangs with a smile, her eyes fluttering shut with his gentle caress. "You're tired."

Sarah nodded, leaning forward to tuck herself under his chin and pressing a kiss to the base of his neck. Tired would be an understatement. Carina had drained almost every last ounce of energy she'd had saved up since surgery. Yesterday had been too full a day, and today, she just wanted to lounge around and be lazy, maybe take a nap. She'd only had roughly three hours of sleep due to Carina's infinite supply of energy. Sarah could only wonder at how Carina could keep at it for hours and hours on end. Peeling herself away from Chuck this morning had taken Herculean effort. But she wanted to see Carina off. It wasn't often that she got to spend time with her friend so she had to take full advantage. The next time they ran into each other- because that'd inevitably be how it'd happened- Sarah would have her reserves saved up again and she'd be able to keep up with the party animal.

Chuck kissed her forehead and gave her a quick, tight squeeze. Deciding it might be best to lie down for a bit, he cradled Sarah's head and slid off his perch. Bending his knees, he pushed against the arm rest to fill the length of the couch, trying as best as possible not to jostle her around too much while he made himself comfortable.

Sarah smiled and hummed a laugh. "Smooth."

Chuck ran his hands soothingly down her back, stopping just shy of her incisions. "It's been known to happen," he said lightly.

The deep rumble of his voice reverberating through his chest spread warmth through hers. She tightened her grip on him for a second, before melting into him. Not quite ready to fall asleep yet, she drew mindless circles over his chest. "So, how was your night with Morgan?"

"Pretty good," he said. "He dropped a bombshell, though."

Without moving her head, she looked up at him. "What happened?"

Chuck pursed his lips and exhaled. He didn't want to say it. Saying it meant it was real and he just didn't want it to be so. "Morgan's decided to move to Hawaii."

"What?" Sarah asked, completely shocked as she got up on her elbow to look at him.

"Yeah, I know. Threw me off, too."

Sarah frowned slightly at his saddened tone. She circled her fingers comfortingly across his chest. "Why?"

"He said he needs a change."

"And _Hawaii_ is that change?"

"He wants to be a benihana chef."

Sarah couldn't help it. She laughed. "Seriously?"

"That's exactly what I said!"

"It's not that he can't," she qualified quickly, hoping he wouldn't see her laughter as a negative thought toward his best friend, "I just have a hard time picturing Morgan wielding a knife."

"You and me both. Of all the culinary methods to learn, he chose benihana." Chuck shook his head, voicing aloud his concerns from last night. "I mean, he could barely manage a saw in woodshop. How is he expecting to throw knives around?"

Sarah opened her mouth, searching for words on a shrug. "Uh- well . . . hmm . . . maybe he'll surprise us?" _Yeah, that sounded confident, Sarah. _"Yeah, maybe he'll surprise us."

"Or kill himself trying."

Sarah tipped her head in consideration. "That, too."

"Morgan's my best friend, you know, and I want him to be happy. But I don't want him to leave. And, yes, I'm aware that's selfish."

"Well, maybe he needs this. Maybe he needs to be on his own to sort things out for himself and come into his own."

"Can't he do that here, though? I could help him."

"Morgan knows that- he does- it's just that, sometimes, you have to do things for yourself and if he's always relying on you to fix things, you're enabling him to stay the same. Seems to me like Morgan wants to grow."

"But he'll be so far away."

Oh, but Chuck was pouty this morning. It was cute at the moment, but she needed to shut it down before it wasn't, which wouldn't be too much longer. "So we can go visit him- or you can, if you don't want me tagging along."

"Really? We can go?"

"Mhm," she confirmed with a nod, loving the way his eyes began to brighten. "I've never been to Hawaii."

"Really? That's surprising."

She shrugged. "Not really. The CIA isn't sanctioned to work in the US, only internationally, so I've never gotten the chance to visit America's paradise and vacations weren't high on my priority list. I've always wanted to go, though."

"Well, in that case, we are _so_ going."

She smiled largely, his excitement was infectious. "You're on." Sarah leaned down and pressed her lips to Chuck's. It felt amazing to be able to make plans and actually know that they'd happen. Being with Chuck opened her to a whole new world, one she never thought she'd experience and it was proving to be better than any assumptions she might have made. With a pleased sigh, she settled against him, envisioning what their island paradise trip would be like. If she closed her eyes, she could almost feel the warmth of the sun and the heat of the sand accompanied by a cool breeze. Recreating their first night together would be a must- though, she could do without the police interruption. Oh, it would be so perfect! No stressing over a mission interrupting or needing to cut things short. Just the two of them together . . . well, Morgan, too, but she could persuade Chuck to have some time alone together. Gosh, an honest to god vacation . . . it'd be heaven. She couldn't wait!

..-. .- - .. .-.. -.- - .- - - . .-. … … - - .-.

Eve stared at the television screen. She hadn't even turned the thing on, just stared at the blank screen, wondering when her energy would come back. She felt horrible. Her throat was so dry, her tongue was beginning to feel like sandpaper and she wasn't sure if she could lift her arm to get some water. It'd be another couple hours yet until her mom came. She'd help her. Eve had been pretending to be asleep when the overnight nurse came because answering questions was not something she wanted to do at the moment.

She'd been considering calling Sarah and telling her not to come today. When Sarah came, since they both wanted their relationship back, conversation was a requirement, awkward or not. All things considered, they were doing quite well on that front- at least, she thought so and hoped Sarah'd agreed. Mending things hadn't taken nearly as long as she thought. It'd been easier than she'd thought to move past Sarah leaving. She could feel herself falling back into that routine from when she was younger; wanting to follow her big sister everywhere she went and copy everything she'd do. The pedestal was creating itself again and in doing so, Eve had found out how very little of that pedestal had left when Sarah'd gone.

"Morning," Ethan said, walking into the room.

Eve looked over her shoulder at him and smiled. She still didn't want to talk but seeing Ethan instantly helped make her feel better. She could feel herself swirling down Depression's toilet the longer she spent alone and that's when things could get dangerous for her.

"How's it going?" he asked as he picked up her chart and started in on his notes, writing down her stats. He'd come a bit early so he could get work out of the way and still have a good twenty minutes or so to kill with her. When Eve only shrugged at his question, his brow furrowed at her. "Your mouth is dry, huh?"

Eve's smile broadened and she nodded, pleased that he'd figured it out.

Ethan smiled back, tucking her chart under his arm and heading to the pitcher of water. "I know it doesn't seem like it," he said, pouring a glass only half full, "but that's a good thing. It means that your body is recognizing the transplant." He sat down next to her hip and helped her take a sip of water, but even with the small amount he'd given her, she still choked on it. He frowned. "Sorry."

Still smiling, Eve shook her head and shrugged it off. She'd been expecting to choke because of how dry her mouth had been. She pointed at the glass.

"You want more?"

Eve nodded.

He gave her some more. She brought up her hands and tried to take the glass. "Slowly, Eve. Take it easy," he said with light admonishment. It was good she wanted it though. He could see the light rash on her hands and part way up her arm where her shirt had slid back. Not too bad, though. "Do you have some sores in your mouth?"

"A few," she said, cringing as her tongue stuck to the sides of her mouth. It almost felt like a cat's tongue. She reached for the glass still in Ethan's hand and took some more water, swishing it around all the surfaces, the coolness offering some reprieve from the sting. "But I think most of them were from before."

Ethan nodded, jotting down his notes. "You been getting enough sleep?"

"Feels like all I've been doing lately." Even though it'd become something she's absolutely terrified to do. When she didn't focus, it felt at times like she was slipping away from her body. She'd start playing with her hands, doing shadow puppets against the wall or sing songs, anything to stay awake until her mom, Uncle Casey, or Grams came. They'd sit with her, unbothered if she fell asleep or not. She hadn't said anything to anyone but she had a feeling Uncle Casey knew. There was a look he got in his eyes, like a quite understanding. He just knew things sometimes.

"Good. Rest is the best thing for you." He laid her chart on the bed. "Could I see your arms?" Eve held them out and Ethan gently pushed her sleeves back, examining them. "Doesn't look too bad. Dr. Williams will have to look to know for sure and decide what he'd like to do. This looks pretty mild though so you might just hafta deal with it."

Eve's brow rose. "Dandy." She'd just gotten her skin back to mostly normal so she certainly hoped they did something to keep this from getting any worse. She pushed her sleeves back down self-consciously, gripping the edges to cover as much the redness as possible. "You're here pretty early today."

"Yeah." He leaned against his hand he'd rested on the bed to the opposite side of him. "I knew your mom was dealing with some insurance stuff today so I thought I'd come keep you company for a bit."

Eve pierced her lips, holding back a smile. "Thanks."

He took her hand with his free one, being careful not to hold too tight. "'Course." He wiggled her hand a bit and gave her a tiny, unsure smile. "Actually, I kind of brought something for you today."

That perked her right up. "You did?"

He blushed. "Yeah." He let go of her hand and reached into his pocket. "It's nothing special, just- ahm- just a little trinket actually."

He hadn't pulled his hand out yet but Eve could see it fisting something in his scrubs. His nervous babbling was pretty cute, she had to admit.

"Ahem, it- it's-" He paused, thinking how to explain for moment. "I found this when I was fourteen, right after my mom started going through her treatment so gave it to her for good luck. And when she got better, she gave it back to me before I left for war. We're both still alive so I guess you could say there's a certain amount of luck in this." He licked his lips and swallowed. "So, uh, I wanted to give it to you so you could always have a little bit of luck with you, I guess."

He unfurled his hand and there sitting in his palm was a tiny elephant sitting back on its haunches with his trunk flipped back and a smile. "Oh my gosh," Eve gasped, reaching out for the little green figurine, "he's so cute!" She held it up, giving it a closer inspection. It looked sort of like a baby laughing and clapping its hands. She cradled it to her chest and looked at him with bright, shining eyes. "He's really mine? You're giving him to me?"

"Uh huh, it's all yours."

"Thank you," she said with awe, bringing him back out to look at again.

Ethan smiled, feeling his nerves ease at her apparent joy. "I'm glad you like it."

"Like it?" she said, looking at him again, "I love it." She placed him on the side table, adjusting him to be perfectly faced to watch over her. "There. Now I'll always have someone looking out for me." Eve leaned toward him, though in her weakened state, it looked more like falling. It was a strange, kind of limp, hug, but it was the best she could do at the moment. Ethan didn't look like he minded. "Thank you, Ethan."

He gave her a light squeeze. "You're welcome."

..-. .- - .. .-.. -.- - .- - - . .-. … … - - .-.

Sarah jolted awake. Whoa. When had she fallen asleep? She stretched, glancing around the room as she gathered her bearings.

Chuck knelt next to her and rubbed her back. "Hey, you okay? Bad dream?" he asked, brow furrowed with concern. It might have been his shadow that'd made her jump if he thought about it. Her jump and his return had been practically simultaneous.

Sarah blinked up at him, wondering why he wasn't under her anymore. They had been cuddling, right? "Uh, no, I don't remember actually." It'd been one of those dreams that became elusive upon awakening. She lifted up awkwardly before deciding that hadn't been a good idea if the zing singing up her back had been any indication. That only happened if she moved just right and since it was still pretty sore after yesterday, she'd moved just right. Instead of getting up, she burrowed into the couch.

Chuck brushed her arms with his hands. "Well, you are kinda cold." He pulled the blanket from the back of the couch and covered her with it.

"I am cold," she gripped the corner and snuggled in, "but what does that have to do with anything?"

"Didn't you know," he began, briskly but gently rubbing her, "the colder you are, the more likely you are to have a nightmare?"

Sarah hummed tiredly. "Well, I wouldn't have been cold if someone hadn't left. Where'd you go?"

"To the bathroom," he said with a laugh. "Someone else had her leg over my bladder."

"Oh sure, blame me," she teased back. She lifted up the blanket, holding it open with one hand as the other tugged on his shirt. "Come keep me warm, someone."

Chuck laughed and crawled into her cocoon. "Uff, your feet are like ice."

"Sorry," Sarah said, retracting them to hide them between the back of the couch and the cushions. She knew she had that issue so she tried to avoid touching him with them.

"No, no," Chuck said, hooking her legs with his foot and pulling them back to trap between his feet, completely unaffected as he warmed them up. "You always try to keep them from me. I don't mind."

She smiled widely, entirely unable to help herself. She seriously had the best boyfriend ever! Every day, that became clearer and clearer. She couldn't say it enough. Greedily, she slipped her legs between his, soaking up his warmth. To think they might have gotten here even without the CIA and he didn't think she was crazy for thinking that either. That audition seemed like a lifetime ago, but how random to learn that Chuck had had the same audition. "Hey, Chuck, can I ask you a question?"

"Anything. You know that."

"On that tape of your audition-"

"Mhm."

"-why'd you stop playing?"

Chuck sighed. "Sarah-"

"You were doing so well," she interjected before he could protest too much.

He looked around for a moment before meeting her eyes again, seeing her genuine curiosity. Attempting to joke his way out of answering, he lifted his brow flippantly and tossed her poignant look. "Well, there was this _girl_-"

Sarah laughed but rocked into him admonishingly, almost knocking him off the couch. "Come on, Chuck. Be serious."

His teasing deflated at her tone. Knowing she wouldn't let him out of it, he searched for words Ellie had been asking of him for years. It wasn't that he didn't want to answer. The truth was, he didn't exactly know why other than to say it was a feeling he'd gotten. And probably a large amount of fear to boot. Julliard lied far, far away on the other side of the country. He'd been too afraid to go on that big an adventure alone. "I don't know, Sarah. I was up there and when I looked into the wing and saw Gavin there, I just- I got this . . . feeling. I don't know how to explain it. I knew I could get it, but the idea of New York scared me. It would've been so far away from Ellie- I'd never even been on a plane, you know? So moving across the country . . . I couldn't do it. When we got home, Ellie brought in the mail and I'd gotten my acceptance letter to Stanford with a full-ride so we never really talked about it after that. Stopping the audition didn't matter anymore. But then, Stanford turned into a fiasco-"

"Yeah," Sarah agreed. Fiasco was a nice way of explaining it. "You know, fate's winning a lot more points in my book these days now that I think about it. Right about the time you were playing, my dad was arrested and Graham was recruiting me. I remember from the time stamp on your video."

"You remember the exact time you were recruited?"

"Well, it's pretty hard to forget. After my audition, I practically ran out of the auditorium so I'd miss rush hour."

"And let me guess? You drove just as recklessly then as you do now?"

She poked his chest. "Hey, that kind of driving has saved my life more than once."

He grabbed her finger, switching it up to thread her fingers with his. "I believe you. Strange that it's something I appreciate about you even though it terrifies when I'm involved." Chuck shifted closer to her, changing the subject. "So what time are you going to visit Eve?"

Sarah shrugged. "I don't know. Probably around five or six. I've got a couple things to take care of at Castle first."

"Oh?" Chuck asked, "Anything you need your dashing, loveable boyfriend for?"

Sarah smiled. He sure was dashing- and loveable. Very loveable. Which just made her choice for the future pretty simple, but she wanted to write it out and get her thoughts on paper before jumping into anything crazy. She needed them to be straight before she talked with Chuck. "Not just yet, but soon. I wanna surprise you."

"Surprise me?" Chuck repeated. "Well aren't you just a do as I say, not as I do type?"

"The element of surprise means virtually everything to a spy," she explained simply. "I just need to make sure a few details will work out first before I tell you about it."

"Okay," he said, a little unsure and a lot curious.

She rested a calming hand on his chest. "It's a good thing, I promise," she said insistently.

Chuck nodded. "I trust you." He didn't sound in the least bit unsure of it. "Plus you'd sound a little more distressed if it weren't."

She smiled. Ahh, he knew her so well. "Have I told you lately how much I love you?"

Chuck slid even further into her space, returning her smile. "It's been a while since you've mentioned it."

"Well, I do," she said, running her fingers through his hair. "So very much."

Chuck captured her lips and hugged her to him, attempting to roll so she'd be on top of him again, except the couch wasn't as big as he'd expected. He hit the floor with a groan, air being sucked right from his lungs. So glad he'd been on the bottom and not her. As Chuck worked to get his breath back, Sarah lifted up, laughing as she settled across his hips. "Are you okay?" she asked.

"Yes." Chuck eyed her with mock hurt, though it's mixed with real hurt too. "That's what I get for you calling me smooth- a totally uncoordinated display of unsmoothness," he said, tickling her thighs with his fingers. He didn't actually blame her. This had been his fault, after all.

"_So_ not my fault, Chuck," she replied, shaking her head as she smiled down at him, nerves alighting everywhere he touched. She glanced over to the clock, noting that she'd gotten a good few more hours of sleep since Carina'd left. It was just coming in on noon. She leaned down, curtaining them with her hair. "How about you go hang out with Morgan some more, I'll do what I need to at Castle before I stop by the hospital and we'll meet back here around eight thirty-ish for dessert and a movie? Whatever one you want."

"Wow, you're actually allowing me to spend time with Morgan."

"Why wouldn't I? He's your best friend and he's moving. It's only natural that you spend time together. So as long as you're back for our plans, I don't mind."

"Don't tell Morgan," he said, dropping his voice to a stage whisper even though it was just the two of them, "but you're my favorite best friend."

"I better be," Sarah said conceitedly, closing the gap to press her lips against his.

Chuck responded with restrained passion, still fighting to keep his breath after his fall and wanting keep from pushing her too much. It would be so easy for them to slip into a frenzy, to give in to their fire, but Chuck kept himself from doing that. He knew a simple caress of his tongue, a slight move of his hand, and she'd fall into him. She'd be unable to keep herself from giving in. The same could be said for him too if only she'd just initiate something.

Sarah pushed back. "Mm, you're too good at that." It wouldn't take much for her to change her mind and stay, keep him here with her instead of letting him leave to spend time with Morgan. But this was important to her. She got to her feet before temptation got the better of her. "I'm gonna go change and you can't come with me. I won't be held responsible for my actions if you do."

Chuck rolled to his stomach with a laugh and pushed himself up. "Okay, I'll clean up. Your breakfast was delicious by the way."

"Thank you. You'd said as much but I'm glad you like it." Sarah said, giving him a peck before breaking away from him and heading up the hallway. Moments like these, days like these, made the idea of resigning far less frightening. In truth, it'd been over a month since her last mission and she didn't miss it. She needed to let go of the greater good and not feel guilty for wanting that. Every day that became easier and she knew it would only get better. Her last mission was protecting Chuck and her new mission- the one she was assigning herself- was to make him as happy as he made her. So that meant she needed to start taking the steps towards her future, the one she never let herself dream of.

And the first step was resigning.

..-. .- - .. .-.. -.- - .- - - . .-. … … - - .-.

Sarah sat at her desk finishing up a bare bones business plan. She'd flesh it out more tomorrow once she showed Chuck to see if it'd actually be something he was interested in. And if it was, then they could work on it together. She wouldn't have started working on it if it hadn't been for Eve calling her to tell her not to come. It seemed Eve had contracted a mild case of GVHD so she didn't feel up for company today. Sarah hadn't minded. She understood. They still had a good twenty minute conversation.

Just a few hours ago, she'd finished her letter of resignation, ready to hand to Beckman while Bryce was getting the new Intersect and Chuck had his suppressed. It'd been easier than she'd thought it'd be to write it up. She figured there might be some lingering hesitation, but the further into it she got, the simpler it became. There had been nothing but the clear choice that her days as a government suit would be coming to an end even if Chuck didn't want to try for the business. She'd find something else if she had to, but it'd be nice to put her education to use.

A shadow fell over her desk just before the chair across her desk squeaked. Pausing in her writing, Sarah looked up and saw Mr. Bartowski sitting there. She dropped her pen and closed the folder, hoping he hadn't seen. Frankly, he was the last person she wanted to find out before Chuck did. She sat back in her chair and folded her arms, staring at him. He stared back, deadlocked. She rolled her eyes. Even knowing that whoever spoke first usually lost control of the conversation, she had no desire to be in his company any longer than she had to. "Can I help you?" she asked flatly.

Stephen stared at her for a moment longer before responding. "I'm sorry."

Sarah raised a brow and waited for more. When none came, she said, "That's it?"

"I don't owe you an explanation."

"No, you don't," Sarah agreed, "but you do owe Chuck one, so what are you wasting your time here with me for?"

Stephen smirked and nodded. Admittedly, if only to himself, he deserved her ire. He'd behaved poorly where she was concerned. "You don't like me."

"You started it."

"Mature."

Sarah smiled though it had no humor in it. "'Bout as mature as you holding something against me that I haven't even done. At least I have a valid reason not to like you. You just fabricated one for me." Ellie had earned the right to have Sarah prove that she wouldn't hurt Chuck. This man had no right to her explanations. Not when he'd already done the very thing he was afraid of her doing. "You don't know me, Mr. Bartowski, yet you chose to judge me based on the fact that I'm an agent. That's not fair. You're the one that abandoned Chuck and Ellie, and I hate you for it. I'm angry for them because of it, but I never tried to sway them from being around you. I never tried to keep them away from you."

Stephen shifted, trying to mask his discomfort. This topic wasn't something he'd planned on getting into with her. He'd hoped he'd only have to tell his kids, explain to them why their mother left and why he'd had to follow her. He never imagined it'd spiral like it had. "My wife- their mother- was an agent. I judged on what I know of the CIA."

Seriously? All this is because of his wife? "I'm not your wife."

Stephen nodded. "I can see that."

Sarah had to mask her surprise. That'd been as close as he'd come to actually, truly apologizing. Anxious to move this along, she said, "You are going to talk to him, right? You're not just gonna let him continue to be bitter, are you?"

So she wanted them to talk? Interesting. Stephen let out a sigh. "I want to have a relationship with him."

"Well, you won't if you're complaining about me all the time. And I'm not going anywhere so you're gonna have to get used to this or never bring it up again."

Stephen considered her words for a moment. He leaned forward, resting his arms elbows on his knees. "How are you so sure you won't leave? You can't control what missions the CIA is going to send you on. What happens when Chuck isn't the Intersect?"

She narrowed her eyes. _If only you knew._ "I don't owe you an explanation," she threw back. She'd be damned if she told him before Chuck. She didn't even want to tell Stephen at all. Chuck could if he wanted to, but that'd be his choice.

Stephen clamped his lips together. "Hm." She's a touch cookie to crack. Quite vehement about staying. Sitting here, now, he almost believed it to be true. Of course, he'd also never believed Mary would leave them either, but look how that turned out.

Sarah raised her brow and began to clear her desk. "Well, as much as I'd love to continue this delightful conversation, I have somewhere to be."

"Visiting your sister?"

Her finger poised over the mouse button, ready to click shut down, she gave him a fierce glare. "Excuse me?" Where the hell did he get off talking to her about her sister? After yesterday, he was bound to have found out but he had no right to talk about her.

"Ellie told me about what you did. It's very honorable."

"I don't need your approval for my choices."

"Yes, but nonetheless, you have it."

Sarah gave him a blank look. "So what? We're supposed to be chummy now? I'm supposed to put in a good word with Chuck for you before you try to talk to him?"

"No."

"Good, 'cause you're on your own." Sarah hid her copy of her letter of resignation in the folder with the business plan, tucking it under her arm as she picked up her purse. "Have a good evening, Mr. Bartowski."

..-. .- - .. .-.. -.- - .- - - . .-. … … - - .-.

Sarah let the door close loudly, still frustrated with turn the evenings events took. After Eve had called to tell her not to stop by, she'd gotten that brilliant idea for a business. Chuck would still be out with Morgan, so she had time to work it out only to be interrupted by one Stephen Bartowski. That man got on her nerves like nothing else. Ugh, she should have just given in to temptation and stayed home with Chuck. She should have just lounged all day like she'd wanted, watching Chuck play video games or relaxing in the pool again..

"Hey beautiful."

"Gah!" Sarah started. "You scared me."

Chuck blinked, shocked. "Sorry." He frowned. "Everything okay?"

"Fine." That definitely sounded like a whine. He'd never believe her. "What are you doing home?" Wow, even that sounded perturbed. But it was only half past seven, a whole hour earlier than they'd agreed. He should still be gone.

"Morgan went to dinner with his mom," he said, "Don't change the subject. What happened? Is it Eve?"

Despite the evening, she still had to smile. She'd seen it coming and he delivered as usual. She dropped her bag by the door and kicked off her shoes, throwing her jacket over the chair on her way to the kitchen where he stood watching her. "No, no. Nothing like that. She called and asked to skip today. She was tired."

"Oh, I'm sorry," he said, as he wrapped his arms around her.

"It's okay. She has a minor case of acute GVHD so she's pretty run down. Dr. Williams said it's a good thing. Means that if she gets better she's less likely to relapse so I figure, give her all the rest she needs. They're monitoring it closely to make sure it doesn't get any worse."

"Okay, well that's good then. So why are you upset?"

Sarah clenched her jaw and looked at her feet before raising her eyes to meet his. "Can I tell you something without you jumping all over my case about it?"

Chuck gave her a confused look. "What happened?"

"I had a run in with your father," she said, still peeved over the whole ordeal. Her face contorted with annoyance as her hands tightened to fists. "Every time I see him, I just wanna _deck_ him. He infuriates me so much."

"And yet you want me to reconcile with him?"

"I know it doesn't make any sense, Chuck," she said with obvious frustration, but towards the situation, not him, "but I do. Not for him or for me. For you. Even if you never talk to him again or he does something that makes you give me the okay to kick his ass, you should talk to him. Get some closure. You have a chance to learn everything about why he did it, and you deserve to know. That's why I want you to talk to him."

"You have my permission."

"Chuck-"

"I'm serious. He deserves it, Sarah. After everything he's done, he deserves it. I should've just let you do it in that tin can on a hill."

Sarah's lips quirked. After everything, he could still make her laugh. "Let's just wait until after, okay? All the same reasons will still be there, but I don't want you to regret unleashing me."

"Unleashing you?"

"Yes," she said, tightening her grip around his waist. "There's nothing I wouldn't do for you, Chuck. There are no limits to lengths I will go for you."

"I know," Chuck said. "It goes both ways, you know."

"I do." Sarah rose to up to peck his lips. "I love you."

Chuck smiled. "I love you, too." He slid his hands up to her shoulders, giving them a squeeze. "Wow, you're pretty tense," he said, massaging up her neck.

Sarah rested her forehead against his chest to give him better access and moaned. "I won't be if you keep doing that." She let out contented breath and melted into goo. His hands felt so good against her tense muscles. All the things he could do with his hands . . .

"You know, Sarah," he said coyly and she leaned back to look at him, frowning because his hands stopped moving, "I'm totally game if you wanna skip the movie." He waggled his eyebrows.

Sarah's eye simmered. "Ooo, the Bartowski Eyebrow Dance. Whippin' out the big guns." She bit her lip and pressed up against him, inhaling deeply. As Chuck fell under her spell, her lips slid into a smirk and she pushed out of his embrace, racing for the bedroom and shouting over her shoulder, "Last one there gives the first massage!"

After taking a moment to realize what had happened, Chuck shook off his stupor and rushed after her, "Sar- hey!" He could hear her entirely too pleased laughter answering him. "That's cheating!"

..-. .- - .. .-.. -.- - .- - - . .-. … … - - .-.

Thanks again for reading. Hope it was long enough for you all. If you'd like, let me know what you thought!


	42. Chapter 42

A/N: Hey, everyone! So, I know I should probably apologize for the delay, and I am really sorry. There's not a day that goes by where I don't think about this story. But life is a real pain in the ass sometimes and if you're following me around on twitter, you know I have lots of jobs, so time to sit and write is limited for me.

Fear not, I will finish…just maybe not as soon as you (or I) would like me to.

To **Hotski** and **triptpol85**, I am amazed at all your kind words for pretty much every single chapter. Thank you!

Many thanks to all the people that have pre-read all or portions of this- **Aerox** (though your twilight comparison still makes me cringe, so glad I fixed that), **BigKev** (hope you had a lovely birthday. You will find I've made changes since you've read it should you choose to read it again), **BDaddyDL** (don't know what I'd do without you checking in on me. Thanks for your friendship), and- hope I didn't forget anyone there, super sorry, if so, and thank you- to **BillatWork**, you had your work cut out for you- seriously guys, this is like 19 pages long, so I hope you have time- you're my thinking catalyst and the best sounding board a girl could ask for. And I still claim that one scene as your fault =)

_P.S. Sorry about the false alarm, people. Parts of it got cut off, which I guess happens sometimes or I am so blond I didn't save it but added the chapter anyway. That also happens sometimes… Power to the blond! So if you saw and then you didn't, I deleted it and posted it again. Sorry :/_

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Chapter Forty-Two

"Ellie!" Chuck shouted, barging into the apartment, not quite slamming the door but shutting it with force. It was early, far earlier than Chuck had a right to be entering someone else's home and yelling. But he didn't care. He had to know. "Ellie!" He glanced around all the front rooms. Lights off should have been a huge indication of their lack of occupancy. He rushed down the hall, passing the bathroom and his old room- he didn't look in there, knowing Beckman would most likely be asleep, _if the woman ever slept, that is_. Chuck pushed open Ellie's bedroom door. "Ellie-"

"'t's going on?" Ellie asked, still partially asleep. She squinted up, seeing the intruder to be her brother. "Chuck," she rubbed at her face and tried to wake up more, "what-"

"Did you know?"

"Know what?"

Devon groaned and rolled over to glare at Chuck. "Bro, trying to sleep here." He'd just gotten in from a long shift at the hospital. It hadn't been a good night. All he wanted to do was sleep it off and Chuck yelling was not helping.

Ellie rubbed his arm and kissed his cheek. "Sorry, Babe. Go back to sleep." She gestured for Chuck to get out of the room as she stepped out of bed and grabbed her robe. She followed closely on his heels, though she dodged the table in lieu of the kitchen. "I've got to get some coffee in me." Whatever this was about, she had a feeling coffee would be necessary. Chuck would never barge in like this unless it was something big. She pulled the grains from the cupboard, sparing a glance over her shoulder at Chuck. The distress written all over his face as he held it in his hands made her frown. "What's going on?" she asked, filling the pot with water.

Chuck looked up at Ellie. "Have you talked to Dad about Mom at all?"

A bit taken aback at the question, she said, "Not really. He never talked about her after she left. Why would he start now?"

"Well, he'd better start now," Chuck said, dropping his hand to the table.

With the coffee all set to brew, Ellie sat down across from him. "Seriously, Chuck, what happened?"

Chuck let out a long breath, puttering for a bit before meeting her eye. "Dad told Sarah Mom was a spy."

"What?" Ellie's face dropped in shock. _Big_ might have been an understatement. This was huge- astronomical. "When did he say that?"

"Last night. Apparently they talked in Castle."

"I can't believe . . ." Ellie shook her head, thinking. There'd been one time- just before their mom left- Ellie had gone to the store with her. Looking back on it, she could remember her mother acting strangely, the way she had tried to hide it, but Ellie knew. Mom had been tense, looking over her shoulder, scanning faces, searching for exits. Ellie knew Sarah did that- had seen her do it, specifically that day at the zoo with the way she had clung to Chuck. Not to the paranoid degree her mom had during that shopping excursion, but now that Ellie had a point of comparison for her mother's actions, it became clear what her mother had been doing back then. "Well, I . . . I guess that makes sense. Mom was kind of jumpy right before she left."

Chuck furrowed his brow, thinking back. Remembering a specific instance of this claimed 'jumpiness' proved to be difficult. A lot of that time had been repressed. With the exception of memories with Ellie, he never wanted to think about his childhood much. How Ellie could say that so cavalierly, he'd never know. Her reaction left a lot to be desired because he'd totally flipped when Sarah told him, rushing over here like a bat out of hell. Maybe Ellie thought it was a good thing, knowing what happened- or sort of happened. "What do you mean?"

"Just that, you know," Ellie shrugged helplessly, hoping to word this correctly, "I can see Mom's actions more clearly now after being around Sarah. That's all."

"Sarah's not Mom," Chuck insisted, fast and defensive, shocked that Ellie would even try to compare the two. But now, after saying that, he could see what Ellie meant, or at least how the circumstances were similar. Mom, spy; Sarah, spy. He could appreciate Ellie's hesitance. The thought hadn't occurred to him until just now. And wow, he'd just run out of their home without even talking to her about that. _Well, crap._ Unbidden, his mind began to drift, reevaluating every interaction with Sarah before he forced himself to stop. _No, no. You can't do that to yourself, Chuck._

"I didn't say-" Ellie shook her head and reached across the table to put her hand over his, her eyes softening. "I know that, Chuck," she said, wishing she'd felt as confident as she sounded. "But-"

"No!" he said. "No buts. Sarah is _not_ Mom." He had to keep Ellie from going down that path, couldn't allow himself to believe it, nor allow her to think it either. Because Sarah wasn't his mother. She wasn't.

"Alright, alright," Ellie held out a placating hand and looked up the hall. "Just . . . stop shouting."

_Oh, god, what if she is your mother? _Chuck sighed and rubbed at his forehead, reminding himself to stop. "Sorry. It's just that Sarah is the only thing that makes sense right now. She has been for a long time and I can't . . ." He shook his head, refusing to complete the thought vocally. _She is not your mother._ "I just can't, okay?"

Ellie licked her lips, buying time as she contemplated how to handle the situation. She wanted to believe him and a good ninety percent of her did, but still. Her mom was a spy, Sarah's a spy. How different were they really? This was exactly why Ellie had wanted Sarah to quit. All this uncertainty was not healthy for a person. "Not to play Devil's Advocate, Chuck, but how are you so sure?"

"Because, Ellie," he said agitatedly, "I just know." He let out a calming breath in an effort to stem his irritation. "If only you knew what she's done for me. If only you knew how much she's fought to keep them from taking me away, you'd never question it. If it wasn't for Sarah, I'd be in a bunker or dead. She's risked her life- every day- to save mine. She's listened to my fears and complaints and offered reassurances when she didn't have to. She could have said no to helping you with the wedding, but instead she went above and beyond, planning little details with you and listening to your concerns and worries and did everything possible to smooth things out for you. She even found Dad for you." He gave a self-depreciating shrug. "Maybe a little for me, too- but she did it."

"Probably more than just a little for you," Ellie said, a small smile crossing her face.

Chuck let out a breathy half-laugh. "Yeah. Probably."

"And all of those things she did are exceptionally wonderful. But," Ellie said, her tone making Chuck's heart drop, "does any of that mean won't leave?"

Chuck leaned back in his chair, thinking of how to respond while marveling at the love of his life and began to feel lighter as the earlier dread lifted from his being. All her acts of kindness, all the things she did to show him before she told him. He couldn't believe how much had come from her that he'd missed because he'd been too wrapped up in labels and definitions. Looking back, things weren't so bleak as he'd remembered them to be. There was no way that Sarah could be anything like his mother.

"Yeah, it does," he said, tender affection in his voice. "Because, somewhere in there, she decided not only to love me back, but to acknowledge it and tell me, to be completely honest with me." He shook his head, "If she had some kind of ulterior motive, why would she tell me about Mom? She could've kept it to herself and let him do it, but she didn't. Dad's had lots of opportunities to tell us, but he hasn't said a damn thing. She did." He pierced his lips together, giving Ellie a long, meaningful look as if willing her to see if from his perspective. "Please, Ellie. I get enough uncertainty from Dad; I don't need it from you, too. It's not like I don't know she's a spy. It's not like I don't know she could get a mission that takes her away at any moment. It's not like I don't wonder about that at least once or twice a day. I just- I have to believe I'm more important to her than being a spy and I do. I do because I feel it, because she says it and she acts it. I know it in my gut, Ellie. Aren't you always the one telling me to follow my gut?"

Ellie cracked a smile at that. Even she had to admit Sarah had become more forthcoming with things these days. Not much, but obvious enough anyway. It's not like Sarah could change overnight, but things were good for her brother and his girlfriend. They fit together. They worked. And his passionate defense of Sarah had helped to reassure her some. "Okay, little brother. You'll have my unyielding support from this moment forward, but that doesn't mean I won't have my reservations from time to time- at least while she's a spy." As much as she didn't want to, she had to say it. It was her duty as his big sister to point out things he didn't want to hear, but needed to. As gently as possible, she said, "No matter how much she loves you, Chuck, Mom loved us, too."

"I know," Chuck nodded sadly. "I know. I just can't let that get in the way. I can't let her go because of it. I need her. Clear down to my bones, I need her."

..-. .- - .. .-.. -.- - .- - - . .-. … … - - .-.

Sarah's leg bounced furiously up and down. Telling Chuck had been the right thing, she knew that. But he'd run out of here so fast, she didn't know where they stood. He said he was going to talk to Ellie. He said he'd be back. That was hours ago. She looked up at the clock and rolled her eyes.

Okay, maybe that was twenty minutes ago. Still felt like hours.

She let out a frustrated sigh and got to her feet, one hand rubbed at her neck, the other on her hip as she began to pace the living room. If his mom was a spy and she left, then who's to say he or Ellie wouldn't come to that same conclusion about her? They hadn't had a chance to address that before he all but leapt for the door. Begrudgingly, his father had been a little bit right to be cautious about her. She couldn't really blame him for that. But never giving her a chance? That had been where he'd gone wrong. He'd been so nice that first night. A bit standoffish, but still pleasant. That all changed at the drop of a hat. Come to think of it, they'd never actually spoken except for that short walk toward Ellie's apartment when she and Chuck brought him back from the hill.

_Uoooh! That's it! You will not freak out about this! After that awkward but totally necessary talk the other night, you're basically engaged-to-be-engaged with Chuck. He knows you. He knows you're in this for keeps- no. freaking. out. Sarah!_

But her heart wouldn't listen, too wrapped up in all the possibilities to settle. Thoughts swirled, anxiety rose, and she just _. . . no, stop. _She huffed. Alright, so the not freaking out thing had lasted a good thirty seconds. Sarah stared down the door as if that would make it open sooner.

_Where is your telepathy now, Chuck? I'm summoning you to this door. Open this door._

_Please._

Sarah ran her hand over her face. _For the love, just do something._ Standing here waiting for Chuck to come back was like waiting for a pot of water to boil. Staring at it would not make it happen any faster. Seriously, she was fairly certain eons had passed since he'd left but only two minutes had gone by since the last time she'd checked. Had the hands of time completely stalled?

_Enough of this._

With that decision in mind, Sarah cast one last lingering gaze on the door before resolutely setting her features and turning on her heel for the bathroom, her mind set on getting ready for the day. It'd be the perfect distraction. She'd be resigning today anyway. All she had to do was hand over the letter, and that would be that. There wasn't even a hint of doubt in her that that would happen and then everyone's reason for stressing would be gone.

That only sufficed to bolster her confidence a touch.

_What if it wasn't enough?_

Sarah swallowed the lump threatening to form in her throat and turned the shower on, allowing the water to warm up while she stripped from her clothing. She stepped under the stream of water, hoping to wash her worries down the drain with it, and let out a slow breath._ Relax. Today will be fine. Bryce will get the Intersect and be on his merry way, Chuck will be free and you will quit. There's absolutely nothing left to freak about._ She grabbed her loofa and poured a small amount of body wash over it, working it to a rich lather over her skin. The simple task, however, was not enough to fully occupy her thoughts. Just like that, she was back in that living room, freaking out. Obviously, there would be no stopping this freak out until it'd been resolved.

_Well, fine, then. Finish up here and then go find him yourself, make him understa-_

Suddenly the shower door opened causing Sarah to gasp in surprise. She whipped 'round to find Chuck looming over her, leaning down and pressing his lips to hers demandingly. Sarah moaned, a little confused but also excited. Her eyes closed as she dropped the loofa to the floor, completely forgotten as she wrapped her arms his neck, pulling him closer to her. _Oh, yes!_ she thought, rising to her tiptoes and returning his kiss more soundly, encouraging him to give her more. Take more. Do whatever he wanted but just _more_.

In the deep recess of her mind, Sarah could piece together his urgency; could see it for what it was. He'd worked out what she'd feared earlier and now he was claiming her as his, though he needn't do so. It'd already been done. Only he could do this to her, only he could push her like this and not be knocked unconscious.

Chuck changed his angle and crowded her back to the wall. The cool tiles behind her were a pleasant contrast to the fire he stoked within. Despite the steam hazing about the shower stall, his fingers, alternating between soft caresses and rough strokes, made her shiver. His tongue circled hers, running across the roof of her mouth send shockwaves throughout her body. She felt encompassed, possessed in ways she thought should have been stifling, but it hardly seemed to matter with him.

Chuck bent his knees, breaking away from her lips to kiss down her neck to her chest, halting all trains of thought aside from what was happening in this very moment. There'd be time enough for that later. Sarah felt like she was on fire, taken aback yet supremely aroused by this out of character act. Normally, he waited for her, but damn if she didn't enjoy him taking her.

_Oh wow, wow, oh my god, wow! _

She might have said that out loud- parts of it, at least, if his revitalized attack was any indication. God, such a short time together and he knew all her hot spots, even finding some she hadn't known about. Her eyes rolled back as he hit one of her favorites and she couldn't stop the groan from passing her lips as she arched further into him. The sensation nearly brought her to her knees, except that before she could process it too much, Chuck had her securely gripped in his hands, lifting her feet from the ground as he stumbled his out of the shower toward their bed. Absentmindedly, she noted the water was still running, but as his hands resumed their exploration of her body, she completely dismissed it. In this moment, rational thought had become completely impossible.

For now, she was in for the ride of her life.

..-. .- - .. .-.. -.- - .- - - . .-. … … - - .-.

Chuck lied on Sarah's stomach, both working to catch their breath. He had no idea what had overcome him. The past near hour of considering the possibility of losing her to her job had him reeling and then seeing her silhouette in the shower, doing the most mundane thing like she hadn't just told him life altering news- it'd felt like snapping. Everything culminated in that one moment and he did the only thing he could think of to make her stay. Truthfully, he'd meant it when he told Ellie he believed Sarah valued him above her job. But that didn't stop his endless fear of abandonment from popping out, rearing its ugly head to remind him, needlessly, that it still existed inside of him. Going after her like that, it was irrational. It was desperate. It was, frighteningly, the most powerful he'd ever felt.

Which, now, also left him feeling a bit ashamed, realizing he'd pretty much just forced himself on her.

"So," Sarah said slowly as she ran her fingers through his hair, feeling completely satiated- ravished beyond description, "that was . . . intense."

_Oh, here it comes,_ he thought. Chuck screwed his eyes shut tightly, refusing to look up at her. "Yeah," he mumbled into her skin, feeling her muscles clench and release beneath his cheek, the quickened tempo of her breath. His fight or flight response kicked overwhelmingly fast. Even if a part of him realized that, had Sarah not wanted it, she could have laid him out flat, but that knowledge didn't keep him from being afraid of her reaction. "Uh, about that. I'm really, _really_ sorry. I shouldn't have don- but I did and," he cleared his throat, "I'm just- I'm gonna," he backed up off of her, retreating hastily towards the bathroom, startling some as he bumped into the wall on his way, "turn off the water," he finished. _Lamest excuse ever!_

Sarah sighed as she watched him leave. This had been the downfall of telling him about his mother. Regardless of how much she hoped he knew she was in this, he still had that huge need to be reassured she'd be around tomorrow. But like Evie had said, they weren't even two months into this relationship and after learning what his mother had done for a living, his need for some sort of reaffirmation at this particular juncture was entirely understandable. If he hadn't run off to talk to Ellie, she would have given it to him, shown him her letter of resignation in hopes that it would be all the confirmation he'd need.

_Now would be as good a time as any._

With complete disregard for modesty, Sarah got out of bed and went after Chuck. She leaned on the door frame, gratuitously eying his behind as he leaned in the shower to twist the knobs. Sadly, he'd thought to put on his boxers again, but she could still appreciate the sight. "You're sorry?" she said softly, though the words echoed through the space. He started at her voice and she had to bite back a laugh. He's so jumpy. In two steps, she was pressed up against him, wrapping her arms around his middle and kissing his shoulder, hoping to steady him. "Why are you sorry?"

Chuck choked at her proximity. Why was she cuddling up to him? She should be mad at him. She didn't seem to be, but she should be. He craned his neck awkwardly to look at her, questions burning in his eyes yet he couldn't seem to find his voice. She gave him warm, mildly amused smile. In fact, she didn't look in the least bit upset at his defilement of her. His lips quirked in an almost smile and then he was swallowing with uncertainty. "Because I- that was, uh . . . I was kind of," he searched his brain for a word, "ro-rough, I guess."

"Rough?" she teased, her smile widening. She couldn't help it. He was too cute, acting all awkward and bumble-y. "You totally ravished me."

"Heh," Chuck attempted to laugh, scratching at his forehead nervously. "Y-yeah, uh, I don't know what, umm, came over me." He turned in her arms. Despite her comforting embrace, he leaned as far away from her as possible, everything about his body language screaming discomfort. "I'm- I'm-"

"Don't say sorry," Sarah interrupted. She didn't want him to be sorry. The experience had been beyond description and sorry would taint that. "Sorry is for when you do something wrong."

"Wasn't . . . wasn't I wrong?"

"Only in the best way possible," she said lightly, running her hands up his chest to his neck to play with his hair. "Don't get me wrong, I love the soft and sensual and how gentle you are most of the time, but I have to admit, that was an _exciting_ change of pace." The way her brow rose as she leaned into him on the word 'exciting' made Chuck swallow and flash a shocked smile.

"Really?"

"Mhm." Her eyes gleamed delightfully. "Anytime you want to ravish me, I'm game. And," she pressed closer to him, relishing in the blush spreading over his whole body, "I'm more than willing to reciprocate." She kissed his neck and Chuck was certain his brain had stopped. She nuzzled into him, rising to her tiptoes to whisper in his ear, "I even have handcuffs."

Chuck squeaked out, "Hi-oh." Sarah's chuckle echoed through the bathroom as she slid her hand along his arm until she found his fingers. He couldn't help the sudden spread of goosebumps rising on his skin at her touch. She tugged on his hand and led him out of the muggy room.

"Come on. I have something to show you."

"But, Sar- naked- windows," he stuttered, trying to catch up as she dragged him down the hall. Her strides, however, were confident, determined. He could do nothing but give in and follow her. Thankfully, the drapes were drawn in the living room, not allowing for much natural light to enter the room. It wasn't until she hit the couch that she released his hand and continued on toward her bag that she'd dropped on her way in last night. Chuck tried, he honestly did try, to keep his eyes from tripping over her body as she rifled through the bag. He just couldn't help himself. How could he be expected to when the most beautiful woman in the history of the world stood naked- _naked!_- in front of him? Oh, she's looking at him. She's looking at him! Yes, more of that please. Wait. Was that- were her lips moving? Were those words? Sound came whooshing back to his ears, finally registering with his brain.

"Chuck, are you listening to me?"

_Uh oh, she sounds annoyed._ A worried squeak escaped before he had a chance to stop it. "Huh, wha? Yeeeah." Sarah frowned and Chuck cleared his throat and shook his head. "No, no. Not . . . not listening." He swallowed. "You're just," he waved his hand at her, "naked. I see . . . naked." He hummed an embarrassed laugh as a flaming blush profusely covered his face._ Good lord, Charles, can't you give it a rest?_ He really had no right to be ogling her in such a fashion after earlier, but there was no help for it. He couldn't stop himself from looking. "It's a little hard to concentrate."

Sarah smirked, highly amused by his antics and a lot turned on. _Unbelievable. Have you honestly not had enough?_ The simple answer was no. She definitely had not had enough. If that moment would ever come, she had no idea, but first things first. This could not be swept under the rug for another round. That would have to come later. He needed reassurance, so reassurance he shall receive. Though, the sudden knot of nerves twisting at her stomach was not helping matters. She hid them the only way she knew how, by taking control. Seductively, she licked her lips and closed the distance between them in one stride, positively delighted by the way his eyes widened and immediately locked on her mouth. She pressed the paper into his chest, his hand naturally grabbing for it without thought, though his eyes never faltered from her mouth. "Read that. I'll be right back," she said, brushing past him.

Chuck turned around to watch her do a swift walk up the hallway. As if he had any other choice. _Hello? Naked._ And, apparently that would take some time to get over. As soon as she was gone from sight, he sucked in a large breath and smacked his cheek. _Focus, focus, focus._ He shook his head and stared down at the page she'd handed him, his eyes falling to the top line.

_To whom it may concern:_

_Please accept this letter as my formal resignation as I will no longer be continuing with my position in the Central Intelligence Agency. My final day will be upon the disbandment of my current assignment as that will also coincide with the ending of my contracted time with the company._

_Thank you for the opportunities and support you've provided throughout the duration of my employment. It has been an honor serving this great Nation._

_Sincerely,_

_Sarah Walker_

What the . . . "Thi-" Chuck blinked down at the page, hardly believing his eyes._ Nope, the words are not changing. _"This is a resignation letter." His eyes flew to the hallway where she'd gone, seeking her out. Somewhere in the time it took him to regain enough control to think about anything other than Sarah naked and beginning to read, the woman herself had appeared wearing one of his t-shirts as she leaned against the wall nervously. He stared at her with complete shock and awe. "That's it? You're done?"

"Well, I have to give it to her, but yeah."

"But, Sarah," he said, "you love being an agent. It's your dream, right? To be out there saving the world- isn't that what you want?"

She lifted a shoulder. "I thought so- once," she answered honestly, "a long time ago."

"Sarah, I can't take your dream from you. I can't hold you back."

Sarah's brow pinched with confusion. His vehement rebuttal befuddled her. She thought he'd be happy. She thought this would reassure him that she wasn't his mother and wouldn't be going anywhere anytime soon. Only, he didn't seem to be having it. Which made her anxiety nearly overwhelming. Her breath went shallow as she insisted, "You're not."

"Yes, I am. How can I ask you to give that up? You love being a spy. How can I ask you to give up your life so that mine . . ." he trailed off with a shake of his head. "If I wasn't in the picture, it's what you'd be doing, right?"

"Yes, but you are in the picture." Sarah stepped closer to him in desperation, needing him to understand. His hands automatically fell to her waist as hers reached for his chest. Words and thoughts found their way past her lips, hoping to make him see. "And I'm not giving up my life, Chuck. I'm trading it in for _our_ life. That normal life you want? I want it, too. More than you know. I want the house and the two point five kids and a dog. I want to know where I'm sleeping at night and who I'm sleeping with. I want lame game nights and family barbeques and to yell at Morgan for the stupid things he's going to teach our kids. But more than anything I want you."

"Me?" he asked, something akin to disbelief hanging off the syllable.

Sarah smiled anxiously and cupped his cheeks in her hands, lifting up to press her lips to his and hug him tightly. "Yes, you. Frustrating, remarkable, meddlesome you." She leaned back, fixing her eyes on him. "The man who is there for me always; the man who cherishes me more than I ever thought possible; the man who showed me how to be more than just an agent or a conman's daughter. The man who showed me what it means to trust. Being with you, I've never felt more nervous or scared or jealous in my whole life. You make me want to risk everything. You make me laugh, you make me smile, you make me enjoy life and live it and experience it in ways I've never imagined. You gave me joy, you gave me love, you gave me family. For the first time in a very long time, I don't feel alone. And it's all because of you, Chuck. It's all because of you."

"Oh, Sarah." Wasting no time, Chuck dropped the letter, giving her a searing kiss as he crushed her to his chest. He could've cried. No words, absolutely no words, would come to mind. She'd stolen his thoughts along with his breath and all he could do was try and show her something that matched the magnitude of what he felt right now. He knew she wasn't his mother. He just knew it. She didn't have to quit, and he never would've asked it of her, but knowing it's what she _wanted_ made him feel infinitely more at ease.

His lips moving over hers helped dispel the fear that had grown rampant. Sarah wrapped her leg around his, pulling him closer, if it were at all possible. Her nails dug into his shoulder as her other hand fisted his hair. A sudden desire to lie down had Chuck and Sarah toppling hastily over the back of the couch. Things quickly began escalating into round two, when a knock sounded at the door. Chuck paused and Sarah tightened her thighs around him, drawing his attention back to her.

"Ignore it," she said, slipping a hand down his stomach to the waistband of his boxers.

Chuck groaned and reached down to grab her wandering hand. "I can't, I can't," he huffed, though his body betrayed his words as he continued to move against her. "Ugh, I want to, but I can't. I- I- I have to, hmm, I'm supposed to ride into Castle with Ellie to talk to Dad." Fight would probably be the more operative word there. He'd just come home to change and told Ellie he'd be back in thirty. Clearly, he'd gotten a liiittle bit sidetracked. Chuck looked up at the door. "Just a minute, Ellie," he shouted loud enough for her to hear. He pushed off Sarah for the second time this morning, only this time with a lot more regret. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." He went for the door before turning for the bedroom, then back to the door, then to the bedroom. Maybe he should stick with the door. Gah, he couldn't think! A quick glance at Sarah proved she would be of no help in his decision. Her chest heaved wildly and her flushed cheeks made him want to forget all about the choice and dive back to her. Sarah met his eyes, but quickly had to look away.

"Go, go." She waved him away to the bedroom. "I'll deal with Ellie. You deal with _that_," she nodded toward his crotch. Chuck grumbled curse words under his breath and swiftly made his exit. Sarah watched for a second, taking deep breaths to calm her racing heart as she prepared to face Ellie. Once he was gone from sight, she shook her head, running her hands over her face and into her hair._ Her timing couldn't have been more inconvenient,_ Sarah thought. "And just so you know," she shouted after him, "that shower does not make up for the bath you owe me!"

Chuck just groaned in reply and Sarah laughed. One more breath and she got to her feet. Okay, they were okay. Good. One mess down; a few more left to go. Looking at her reflection in the TV, Sarah knew she couldn't answer the door like this. Her hair was completely untamed. It was still wet from her attempted but deliciously interrupted shower. She shook her hands through the tangles, brushing them out as best as possible. When that didn't work, she found a rubber band on the side table and pulled her hair back, tying it up. She fanned at her cheeks hoping to remove the flush from them before opening the door.

When Ellie knocked again- _not like I'd forgotten you were there_, she thought irritably- Sarah headed for the door. "Coming, coming." With her hand resting on the doorknob, Sarah took one last, composing breath before she could face the whirlwind that was Ellie. She swung the door open with flourish, the wind moving the hair around her face that hadn't quite made it in the ponytail. "Ellie, hi," she said, internally cringing at how over-the-top that sounded. Ellie must have noticed it, too, if the slight crease appearing between her brow was any indication.

"Morning," Ellie said hesitantly, stepping into the apartment as Sarah moved out of the way. "Where's Chuck?"

"He's, uh," Sarah swallowed and threw her thumb back toward the hallway, "showering." At least, she thought so anyway. She fought against blushing, thinking, _There's no way I'll ever be able to see that shower the same again._ And with that, her heart rate picked up again. In need of a distraction, Sarah cleared her throat and headed for the kitchen. "Coffee?"

"I'm fine, thanks. Chuck and I had some this morning."

"Oh. Yeah. Yeah, that makes sense. He did rush over there pretty early." Sarah went about making herself a cup. The good thing about finding herself in Ellie's presence was that the heat that had threatened to take over had been doused pretty quickly. A different kind of discomfort, however, took its place. While the coffee brewed, Sarah turned around and leaned against the counter, finding Ellie sitting on a barstool studying her. Sarah puffed her cheeks and let out a breath. The way her hands rested against the counter forced her shoulders to her ears. _Well, this is awkward._

"I interrupted something, didn't I?"

Sarah blushed furiously and glanced at her feet for a second before returning her gaze to Ellie's. "That obvious, huh?" Ellie smiled in return but Sarah wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not. It wasn't as warm as it might otherwise have been and there was this look in her eyes, a sort of lingering distrust or uncertainty, which put Sarah on edge. Her lust rattled brain had forgotten that Ellie may need the same reassurances Chuck did. Well, maybe not _exactly_ the same, but an effort on Sarah's part to settle Ellie's nerves wouldn't be uncalled for. "So, umm, how are you doing with . . . everything?"

Ellie pursed her lips together, continuing to stare Sarah while considering the question. "I," she drew out long and unsure, "don't know, actually. I mean, knowing's all I've ever wanted since they left but now," she shook her head thoughtfully, "I don't think any explanation will be good enough for the things we went through."

Sarah nodded, tightening her lips. She couldn't imagine how Ellie must've felt, what she'd thought. Ellie had more strength than Sarah could even begin to understand at the same age. "If there's anything I can do-"

Ellie sucked in a sharp breath and cut Sarah off before she lost her nerve. "Listen, Sarah, this thing you've got going on with my brother-"

Sarah frowned, taken aback. "'_Thing_?'"

"Okay, fine, but you said you'd do what was best for Chuck. You said you'd quit your job if it got in the way."

"I know what I said, Ellie," she said, her defenses quickly rising. Apparently, they weren't as solid as Sarah had hoped. Regardless of understanding why reassurances needed to be given, she hadn't thought they'd fight about it, either. Ellie hadn't given Sarah a chance to talk about this like a normal, rational person, instead diving headfirst into an argument and bossing her around like she had the authority to do so. She was being completely unreasonable, acting exactly like her father.

"But that doesn't mean you'll do it."

"So, what? You wouldn't even give me a chance? You're deciding just like that," she snapped her fingers, "I'm done?" Sarah knew she was done, of course. It'd be easy to do the same thing she'd done with Chuck and show Ellie her letter of resignation, but part of her wanted to have this out. It'd be better for everyone in the long run if they cleared the air now. "Shouldn't it be my choice? It's my life."

"You can't have both, Sarah. It doesn't work like that."

"Because you're _such_ an expert on how it works?"

"I _lived_ it," Ellie stated as if it were the most obvious thing. "I didn't _imagine_ my mother leaving. It happened."

"Ellie, I'm sorry your mother did that and I'm sorry things were difficult for you, but you cannot hold that against me. That's not fair. As far as I know, the only thing I have in common with your mother is a profession." Ellie opened her mouth and Sarah prepared herself for a scathing remark or something of the sort, but Ellie sucked in a deep breath and shook her head, deciding better of it.

"I just . . ." She huffed. "Chuck has so much faith in you and I can't stand to see him be disappointed anymore. If you're just gonna be like my mom and leave-"

"I'm not," Sarah interrupted. "I'm not your mother, okay?" She hadn't realized this situation would cause such a backslide with Ellie. Things had gotten much better between them recently but now it seemed like they were back to square one. She shook her head, hardly believing the turn the morning had taken. She crossed her arms and scowled, taking her attention off Ellie.

_Well, that went swell, _Ellie thought, internally shaking her head at herself. She'd promised Chuck he had her support and that lasted all of the half-hour he'd been over here by himself. "Look, Sarah, it's not my intention to offend you, but I won't apologize for protecting my brother. After everything we've been through, these are valid concerns to have-"

"Do you really believe that?" Sarah asked, both unsurprised and heartbroken by the revelation. Maybe they had been valid arguments at one point, but she'd thought their differences had started to work themselves out, that Ellie had actually begun to believe in her. Maybe it was just that not enough time had passed. Or maybe there wasn't ever a point where it would be enough and Sarah didn't know how to fix that. All she knew was that she couldn't make that her problem, despite the fact that she probably would. This was Ellie's issue to work through and all Sarah could do was the same things she'd been doing for the past two years. "If it weren't for your parents, would we be having this conversation over and over and over again? Beating a dead horse isn't going to change the fact that he's dead. Chuck is everything to me and no matter what you and your father say or do, that's never going to change. Are you ever gonna able to accept that- to accept _me_? Or will be stuck in this cycle forever? I don't want that, Ellie. It's exhausting."

"Yes, it is," Ellie agreed quietly.

"Then say whatever you have to say to me now, because this is the absolute last time I am having this conversation with you."

Ellie paused, clearly thinking over her words. "I won't stop looking out for Chuck's best interests."

"And neither will I," she said. "But somehow, you need to figure this out. I don't want to live with knowing that every decision I make will be weighted against your past and your parents."

Ellie stared at Sarah, who'd been unwavering in her position since the very beginning. She sighed and licked her lips, shaking her head. "It wouldn't matter what I said anyway, because Chuck made it abundantly clear where he stands."

Sarah interest spiked at that. "Did he?"

"Yeah, with you," she said, watching as Sarah fought a smile at the admission. "You should know, Chuck defended you. He never thought you were like our mother."

_Could've fooled me this morning._ She could no longer stop the slow smile from sliding across her face with the reassurance that Chuck already knew where she stood. He just had a moment, a small lapse, to which he was entitled. But he knew deep down, and for that, she'd give up a hundred missions, a million mindless hours of figuring out his nerdvana and face the countless horrors of being associated to Morgan, all the while being eternally grateful to do so. "Good, I'm glad."

"Okay, Ellie," Chuck called out, the sound of his voice making Sarah's pulse quicken, "I'm ready to go. Sorry to make you run late."

He came round the corner, hair wet from the shower and Sarah unconsciously licked her lips. Ellie or not, she wanted to finish what they'd started. Over the course of the morning, parts of her mood had dimmed, that portion included she'd thought, but it seemed it'd only diminished with his lack of presence. Dear lord, she needed help. Sarah averted her eyes, grabbing the freshly brewed joe to distract herself with, which, consequently, allowed her to not be facing Ellie at the moment.

"It's not the first time," Ellie said lightly. "I understand my timing wasn't the most of desirable, anyway."

Chuck reddened like a cherry and let out an embarrassed laugh. "Well, I did say I'd be thirty minutes." He rubbed at his temple, trying to hide his glance at Sarah, and then focused back to Ellie. "Shall we?" he squeaked.

Almost as if in pain, Sarah closed her eyes and bit her lip._ Someone, please, have mercy._ _It's impossibly adorable when he does that! _If he did not get out of there soon, she could not be held responsible for her actions. Swallowing a large gulp of coffee offered a short moment of reprieve from her more than salacious thoughts. _I mean, seriously, Sarah. His sister is _right_ there._

"Yeah, let's go." Ellie stood up and gathered her things before heading for the door. "See you later, Sarah."

Sarah gave her a tight smile over her shoulder and waved. "Bye."

Wanting to say goodbye before he left, Chuck came up next to her, placing a hand on her lower back. With that one touch, he could feel the tension drain from her. "Everything okay?"

Sarah abandoned her mug on the counter for him instead, inhaling a deep breath of his freshly cleaned scent as she wrapped her arms around him. He could calm her like no one else and after Ellie, Sarah could go for a little calm. She got up on her toes and kissed him on the lips, doing her very best to keep it toned down, before pulling away to look at him. Feeling the need to clarify, she asked, "We're okay, right?"

"Of course," Chuck said, smiling as he tucked her hair behind her ear. "We are more than okay."

"Good." Sarah flashed a relieved smile and tucked herself into him once again. "Good."

Always happy to have her close, he rubbed at her back and glanced down at her. "Did Ellie say something?"

Sarah took a contemplative breath and pulled back to look at him. Deciding to downplay the argument, she gave him a small smile and explained, "She was just . . . being a good sister."

Chuck smiled in return, though he knew there was more to the story. "She's a great sister." He bent down and gave her a peck. In the distance, they could hear a car start up and Chuck knew he had to go. "One who is probably going to leave without me if I don't get out of here soon."

Sarah laughed and let him go. "Oh, fine." She fixed his collar and brushed off his shoulders. "You'd better go now before your crazed girlfriend jumps you." She turned him around and pushed him toward the door. She might really jump him if he didn't have enough momentum to leave on his own.

Chuck laughed heartily, but was ultimately grateful for her literal shove away. "What if I like it when she jumps me?" he asked, all fake innocence and waggling eyebrows.

Sarah nearly jumped the counter at that. She narrowed her eyes and pointed at him. "Don't go giving me any ideas, Bartowski."

At the door, Chuck gave her a cheeky grin and blew her a kiss. "I'll see you in a bit."

Sarah shook her head and waved. "Love you!" she called out just before the door shut.

"I love you, too!" Chuck shouted loud enough for her to hear in the closed apartment and Sarah could see his shadow dash through the courtyard.

She laughed to herself as she reached for her coffee. Today had certainly started out interesting enough. She only hoped with everything that'd been planned for the day, things wouldn't get any more interesting. But interesting had a way of finding them. It was like the bad cousin you couldn't get rid of or the rain clouds in Seattle. No matter how much you wish it gone, it doesn't just go away without a fight.

..-. .- - .. .-.. -.- - .- - - . .-. … … - - .-.

The moment Chuck and Ellie made it to Castle, they headed straight for their father's workspace. The time for being grateful that he'd come back had passed. Now they needed information. They needed to know.

Ellie led the two person stampede down the hall, Chuck close on her heels. Being that she was the older sibling, he chose to follow her lead. After all, if not for Ellie, Chuck wouldn't have gotten nearly as far in life. Of the two of them, he felt she'd lost much more than he had because he didn't have someone weighing him down. Sure, they took care of each other but she buffered him from the reality that they were totally alone. She took him on and no amount of words could tell her how grateful he had been for that.

"Hi."

"We need to talk," Ellie said, ignoring his greeting.

Stephen nodded. "She told you."

"Of course she told us," Chuck said, unable to keep hold of his contempt. "What's wrong with you? Just because Mom was a spy doesn't mean that Sarah is the same way."

"And it doesn't mean that she's not."

"Guys!" Ellie interrupted, halting Chuck's returning remark. "Argue about that later. Right now, we're here to talk about Mom, okay? So start talking, Dad."

Stephen let out a long breath, taking a moment to gather his thoughts. With telling Sarah about Mary, he knew this conversation would be coming. The entire time he'd been here, he'd thought about it, about what to say- wondered about their reaction. In true coward fashion, he'd hoped to be gone before it came to this because there just weren't enough words to fix what'd been broken. "Your mother and I met while working for the CIA. I was contracted as a scientist for Intersect Project and your mother worked as an agent. And we fell in love, started our own family. Everything went really well for the first fifteen years or so. But then there was a mission she'd been assigned to that required a scientist. It was meant to be the test run for the Intersect. We were supposed to go together but we decided, with how dangerous it was, the both us couldn't go because of you, kids. With it being a new science, my partner and I knew how damaging the Intersect could be if the appropriate requirements were not met. I'd already tested the process on myself before we understood the depth of the mission."

"Whoa, excuse me," Ellie said, "You have an Intersect?"

"Yes."

"Dad-"

"It's fine, Eleanor. I'm fine. We can talk about that later, if you insist," he said, and didn't give her a chance to respond before diving back to his explanation. "There wasn't enough time to find anyone else and we couldn't allow ourselves to put any agents at risk. But we knew my partner met the requirements so he volunteered. This person was supposed to be cold and ruthless and show no mercy. He was supposed to be arrogant and self-serving, a person that could command respect just by walking into a room. My partner was always a bit of a skittish man so we added different markers to help him with his cover. But something happened on that mission and we lost him. He began to believe his persona, this person that we'd created was him and now he's one of the biggest, cruelest, most powerful mercenaries this world has ever seen. His organization reaches farther and deeper than you can imagine. And he thought your mother was . . ." Stephen stopped, not really knowing how to explain the obsession Harvey had with Mary. "I don't know what he thought she was, but in any case, her staying with him was the only way to control him. She had to leave to keep you safe. If he ever found out about you guys, there's no telling what he would do."

"So why don't you just suppress it like we're going to do with Chuck?"

"It's not that simple anymore, Ellie. It's more than just the man. We have to bring down his organization, too."

"Doesn't taking out the leader accomplish that?"

"We're not killing our friend! It's our fault he's like this. We have to help him."

"I didn't mean _kill_ him," Ellie said, appalled by the notion. She was a doctor, for heaven sake. She didn't kill people; she helped them. What had this world done to her father that he'd jump to such conclusions so quickly? "I meant that, by removing the Intersect, this organization of his would no longer have a leader and then it would crumble. Geez, Dad, what kind of a person do you think I am?"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry." Stephen shook his head at himself, rubbing at his eyes with his thumb and forefinger. "Of course that wasn't what you meant." That shouldn't- he should've known that. Ellie wouldn't be so casual with statements like that. He knew Ellie better than that. God, would he ever get this right? All he seemed to do these days was yell and argue- especially with his kids. He couldn't even stand to look at himself in the mirror after what he'd done to his children, let alone face them. Stephen ran a hand through his hair. "We've never fully understood how the Intersect works, even after all this time. In fact, if it weren't for you, I'd never have gotten nearly as much progress. But the problem is that the longer he's out there, the more powerful he becomes and the more complicated this gets. Your mother and I . . . we're just trying to make things right."

"Wait a minute," Chuck said, "are you saying you're in contact with mom? You guys still talk?"

Crap. This was going downhill quickly. "No, not … not exactly," Stephen said. "Our communication is extremely infrequent by coded messages in the paper. The last time I saw her was just before I left."

"You- you _saw_ her?!" Chuck asked, eyes wide with aghast. "And what? She took you to breakfast? _'Hey, sorry about that whole abandonment thing, but you're gonna hafta do it, too.'_ What the hell, Dad?"

"It wasn't . . . they were getting too close. I had to disappear. I had to protect you."

"We get it, Dad," Ellie said, tired of that excuse altogether. Her heart pounded hard against her chest, the devastation nearly suffocating. "You had to protect us, but look at it from our perspective. Mom disappeared. We had no clue what happened, and then after all that, you became a recluse only to leave us, too. We had no idea what happened to you guys and if this whole thing is as dangerous as you seem to think, how was leaving us alone protecting us? How does not telling us that there might be people after our family make us safer?"

"We've always been looking out for you."

Ellie threw her hands up, eyes burning with unshed tears. "Oh, well, thank you. I feel so much better now. You know what? Just forget it." She turned for the door. Talking in circles would get them nowhere and nothing he said would make her feel any better about what happened. "This whole conversation isn't helping anything."

"I'm sorry," Stephen said, his voice nearly breaking. But Ellie had stopped. The sight of his daughter walking out, the pain etched on her face, made his heart ache. He didn't know what else to do besides apologize and he couldn't even get that right. "I'm sorry for what we . . . for what _I_ did. I let you guys down and nothing's going to change that. Whatever I say isn't going to make it better, is it?"

Ellie let out a shuddering breath. Finally. The words she'd wanted to hear. Not some flimsy excuse or unfounded reasoning. Just an honest admission of the mistake made, acknowledgement of being in the wrong. "No, but I'm sorry helps."

"I'm sorry," Stephen repeated, stepping towards his children, though he kept some distance since everything was still so shaky between them. "I am sorry. I'm sorry I didn't know or figure out a better way to handle things. I didn't know what else to do and I wanted you both to be safe, to stay out of this life. Because I know what it costs you and I didn't want that for either of you. I didn't want it to consume you like it did us." Stephen looked back and forth between Chuck and Ellie. "We have to make this right. We have to fix the choices that we made and we couldn't drag you down with us."

"But that's what's going to happen, isn't it?" Chuck asked, though it had been more stated than asked. He had been around the block a time or two now and he knew there was no way they couldn't be sucked into this situation. "No matter how hard you tried, Dad, I still got the Intersect."

"Bryce wasn't supposed to send it to you. He was supposed to send it to me." Stephen shook his head. "I needed the newest version of the Intersect to complete this." He held up his hand, showing his them his watch. He twisted his wrist back and forth, looking at it. "I call it the Governor." He pierced his lips, proud of his creation but sad that it'd gotten that far. Finally, he met Chuck's eye and said, "Ellie's right, Chuck. The Intersect is too stressful on your brain, at least the old Intersect is. That paranoia I mentioned? I know about that because I experience it. The work we do, it does that to people and then to add this on top of it . . . I was spiraling and I needed to get away from you. I needed to fix myself so I could fix my friend. I never imagined it would take this long."

Ellie studied her father, the dejected hunch of his shoulders as he leaned against the back of his chair, the slightest glimmer in his eyes. He really had no idea what he'd gotten himself into. "We can fix this, Dad. We can get the Intersect out and help Mom with her mission- bring her home."

"You guys have fun with that," Chuck said. He was too close to everything he wanted to let it go because of the people who'd abandoned him. Not when Sarah was ready to throw in the towel of this spy world to be with him. Was it selfish? Maybe. But he'd done nothing but help people his whole life. It was time for him to look out for his best interest. Chuck put one foot in front of the other, quickly exiting, leaving behind a confused Ellie and a disheartened father. "Count me out."

"Chuck?"

He heard Ellie call after him and hesitated, but ultimately didn't stop. Did she honestly think after everything that had happened after their father came back that he'd really have any desire to help him? All he'd heard from the man was how much of an idiot he'd been for falling for Sarah. How she would leave his heart shattered in countless pieces because she only viewed him as an asset. How all of his effort would be for naught. Just because his mother had done it to her family.

Well, now, Chuck would show him. He'd show both of them. Walking away was the right thing to do.

Wasn't it?

..-. .- - .. .-.. -.- - .- - - . .-. … … - - .-.

A/N2: Thanks for continuing to read, review, favorite, and alert.


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